Hidden secrets
by autumn-leaf16
Summary: Yuri OC is Hotohori's empress and for two years, the two of them lived happily together until Miaka arrived, as she is from Miaka's world and she seems to know Miaka. My summary is really bad so please have a trial read and I hope someone will like it.
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I own nothing, they are the property of Yuu Watase.

Author's Note: This is an idea that I suddenly had after I read Fushigi Yugi for some time. It just came. This is a story with an OC in it, and I paired her up with Hotohori. She is his empress but she is not Houki, although I am borrowing this as her last name. I actually decided to go on a more serious path. The main focus is actually on Hotohori and this OC. Since in Fushigi Yugi the book world is kind of ancient China I thought I'll do the following: my OC will be called Empress Houki but Houki is not her first name, it become her title. In Chinese history Emperors and Empresses often have a title that is not their name (although in Chinese it'll be Houki Empress but this just sound so weird so yeah.) Hotohori have a title too, he is the something Emperor (I read the manga in Chinese so I don't know the romanji or English version of it so forgive me.) Unlike European rulers Chinese rulers don't always use their name in their title. I know it's kind of confusing to explain and I'm doing a bad job but forgive me.

Any way, I hope someone will enjoy it and please review. It will really help me and make me happy!

(SPACE)

In the very end, there were one hundred chosen young women from the whole of Konan to be concubines for the emperor, who was meant to chose his empress from them. She would be the most lucky one for she would be the official consort of the emperor, and it would be her that receive the attention of the most powerful man of Konan, and if she was successful in being fertile quickly, her future happiness would be secured.

Unlike the rest, who, if they were extremely lucky, might occasionally obtain some attention from the emperor. Most likely though, they would end up being shut in the back of the palace for the rest of their life.(1)

"Your majesty, all you need to do is choose one woman that is pleasing to you and name her as the empress, and it will all be done!" his advisor who organized all this said again, as Hotohori said nothing but criticism at every women that they brought in. "This is not choosing an advisor! You can just choose a beautiful woman, you do not need to test them as you had."

"I am more beautiful then all of these women so far." Hotohori replied, his tone was light but there was not doubt that he believed in what he said. "So I want one who I can at least talk to."

Once again, his advisors exchanged glances, so far, sixty woman had came and their emperor was clearly dissatisfied. Yet these one hundred woman were all carefully selected, if he was not pleased with them, then they doubt that any other women could satisfy him.(2)

"Next," the main advisor resumed.

At the sight of the young girl that walked in Hotohori was tempted to slap his advisor, a very undignified thing to do, but he was truly shocked! This girl was probably only twelve!

"Are you trying to say I am such a man who prefer girl child to woman?" he hissed to his advisor in great disgust.

"Forgive me!" having served in the palace since the current emperor's father reigned, the offending man knew how to act quickly to pacify the royal wrath: he immediately knelt and grovelled in front of the emperor.

The young girl existed, only to have re-entered immediately. At this one of his advisors quickly moved to guide the girl out in case the barely calmed royal wrath boiled again.

"I am not the girl who just came in." the girl managed to whisper out. "I am her twin."

"How old are you?" Hotohori asked kindly, he did not succeeded in making her smile, but she was at least not trembling that much.

"I will be thirteen soon."

Hotohori nodded, he smiled at her and gestured to the door. At this the girl happily went, obviously relived that he did not choose her. A bit angry, he said coldly: "Two twelve year old girls?"

"You majesty I elected these women for you in the same fashion I had elect the concubines of your father. Beautiful girls were rounded up from every area to enter the palace to be tested, and out of all these only the most beautiful, elegant…"

"What I am asking you is why you picked two twelve year old girls."

"I believe there was some problems in that street and these two were the only suitable ones, even though there were pretty girls a many there," at this the man began to feel rather nervous. "These two and one other woman were the only virgins who were beautiful enough to be chosen there due to the nature of the street's business."

"I see." Hotohori smiled sadly, although no one else could detect the sadness. "Very well, continue."

The next woman was also from that street, but she was clearly older then the two girls. She appeared to be at least eighteen. She was dressed in the elaborate royal gown that was given to them all, but unlike most others, she did not wear any excessive decorations on her at all.

Her only ornament was a red ribbon that she wove into her hair. She managed to hold the upper half of her long waist length hair up into an elaborate hair do with that one single ribbon.

Hotohori gasped as he met her eyes: for the first time in his life he was willing to admit that there was someone else more beautiful then him. Physically, she seemed perfect! She was just a bit shorter then him, and her skin was tanned slightly to not be sickly pale like those who viewed fairness to the extreme as the ultimate beauty. Her hair was very dark, a raven black that matched his, but the texture of her hair differed by being curly.

Most of all, her eyes astonished him. They were such a lovely shade of rich brown that he was completely lost into them.

"What is your name?" he whispered.

Behind him his advisors were frowning, unlike their ruler, they failed to see why he was suddenly losing the tight control he always had. To them, this latest candidate was rather beautiful, but she did not stood out to them at all from the other ninety nine women they had seen.

"My name is Houki Yuri." she quickly added: "Your majesty."

That slightest hesitation made him wonder.

"Do you not know who I am?" he asked curiously.

"I never expected to meet the emperor." She explained in reply.

This was not an odd answer, especially when the street she came from was filled with taverns and brothels for the lower and middle class.

"You were chosen…"

It seemed Yuri was unable to control herself as at the word chosen, she snickered slightly. As Hotohori raised an eyebrow at this she quickly blushed and then knelt down.

"Forgive me…" she began.

"No, do not kneel." Much to everyone's surprise he stood from his seat to crouch beside her. "I want to know the truth, of how you came to be in the palace."

"I arrived in your kingdom a week ago, and I became a worker in a tavern." She began slowly, for she was thinking about the place of her origin. "One day, imperial soldiers came and tried to find all the virgins in the street. When they reached the tavern I worked in, the owner shoved me forward and said: 'take this woman, she is much more beautiful then my two daughters, and she is a virgin as well even though she is eighteen years old.'

"They took me although I screamed and struggled, but my capture didn't help the owner either. In the end they still took his two daughters. I do not know why at all, they say the emperor is only eighteen, but his two twin girls are not even thirteen."

"I am eighteen." Hotohori confirmed, he took her right hand into his and raised it to his lips. "I understand that you were forced here, so I wish that from now on in all that you do, you can have a choice.

"I desire you to be my empress, but I will only wed you if you wish to be my bride. Know that I have the power to make you my empress right away should I desire to, for it is my right to do so as the emperor. But I will not, because I wish to have your love."

"You love me?" she said this in disbelieve, and she was frowning slightly. "I do not love you. How could I love someone that I only met today? How could you?"

"I do not know, but I do love you." Before, the only woman that interested him was the legendary priestess of Suzaku, but she, this woman in front of him, made him desire what was real instead of the dream he long spent his time in. He knew from tonight that he would no longer ponder about the woman in the legend, but he would be thinking of this woman in the palace…if she stayed that is.

"Will you at least give me a chance to win your love?"

Much to his delight, she nodded. At this he saw it as a signal for him to stood up with her hand linked in his, he would use the rest of this time more productively, he would take her around the palace, showing her all the beauty that would be her's.

"Your majesty, what about the rest…"

"There is no need, for I have found," he smiled at Yuri, "the woman I desires as my empress."

(SPACE)

Yuri dragged the elaborately decorated comb through her hair as she pulled her hair ribbon off, the events of the last two months were both scary and yet wonderful. To think that she, Houki Yuri, who barely afforded the tiny room in one of the shabbiest street in Tokyo, was now living in the palace of this world.

Before she used to ration her money in order to buy the one or two things she wanted, not needed. Among them were her pretty dresses from the retail store, and the pair of stilettos she often wore. Now she was supplied with all these silk hand embroidered dresses.

Was she dreaming? Not that this world was kind to her the moment she entered. She had to live in daily harassment every day when she worked in the tavern, and when they brought her in the palace she imagined some sort of middle eastern harem.

The dress she wore today seemed especially fancy even by the standard of all the other ones that the emperor had gave her. At the thought of the emperor, Hotohori, she frowned slightly. Was it really possible for someone to be in love just due to a mere first meeting? She knew that these gifts he gave her would be nothing compared to all the wealth he had, but it was the fact that he valued her that much to purposely lavish these presents to her.

Maybe what she feared was not that he did not love her, but rather, he would not stay in love with her. Once again, she thought of her mother. Her mother always seemed to be in love with her boyfriends although she changed them on a basis of twice every year in the better relationship, with many weekly dates in between, these men she seemed to love too.

Her mother…at the thought of her Yuri felt tears welling up again. It was about ten years now but the mere thought of her mother still made her weep. It was because her mother was the one person who truly loved her.

From her mother, Yuri learnt that there was two different loves, the type of love that last forever, the lover her mother had for her only daughter. And of the other kind that was powerful, but lasted only so briefly, what her mother felt for all her lovers, including the boy she had ran off with at only fourteen.

"Are you alright, Yuri?"

"Hotohori," he insisted on her calling him that in private. Quickly she wiped her tears away. "I was only thinking of my…my mother."

He must have finished his daily business with the kingdom as he was dressed less formally, and his hair was unbound. Yuri had noticed that his hair was like part of his royal outfits, he always wore it up in court, and unbound or at least loosen it the moment his duties for the day finished.5

She was always so touched whenever he came to talk to her, because she was aware of how busy he was as the emperor.

"You were crying." He said, touching her face gently. "Is it because of my courtiers? I really did not think that they would dare to harass you, as I told them that I don't want any of them to persuade you to marry me."

"It is not because of that." She swallowed nervously. "I was just thinking of my mother."

"Oh, I should have thought about this sooner. Yuri, where is she? If you want you can bring her here and…"

She shook her head to stop him from going on. "My mother is dead, Hotohori, she died when I was only eight."

"I am so sorry," he embraced her and she felt herself automatically relaxing in his arms. If only his love would last forever, then she was so sure that she would end up in love with him very quick!

"My mother died and I lived with my father, my mother was not married to him." She continued, unsure of why she choose to tell him this, maybe it was because no one else other then her 'family' knew. "He met her and she had me when my father was already married. She was not a concubine but an…an adulterer…"

"I do not think less of you because of that." Hotohori said firmly.

"Life was hard for me, I can not blame my father's wife for hating me but it was so hard!" she felt her shoulders shaking and recognized that as a warning of her going to cry. "My father could not love me as he wanted nothing more then to forget the mistake he made, every one else naturally hated me for destroying their originally happy family.

"Since my mother died," here she finally sobbed, "no one loves me."

"But I love you." Hotohori whispered. "What must I do for you to believe this? I really love you."

"But will you love me long enough?" Yuri chocked out. "And even if I love you, am I loving you because I love you? I want to love you because I simply love you, not just because you are being kind to me and is the first person since my mother who loves me."

She finally cried and he held her in his arms, whispering to her. She suddenly realized that this was the first time she cried with someone else beside her, before, she always cried alone.

Dimly, she felt herself being carried and then laid down. The rest of her body seemed to be lying on a soft surface but her head was resting on something that was different, to an extent it was soft but yet the firmness made her doubt it being a pillow.

Her hair was moving…she could suddenly see the end of it when she was sure that she laid on it. It took her a few second before she registered the gentle massaging of someone's finger through her hair.

"Hotohori?"

"Don't worry, I won't be doing anything else other then this." He promised, his voice a bit distant from her's. "Thinking what you just did would naturally be hard, so I want you to just rest."

She smiled as she finally fitted everything together. All of a sudden, her position became very comfortable.

"I am sorry." She whispered, stretching out her hand to his he immediately clasped it. "I am wasting your valuable time."

"No, there is no waste at all." He told her as he kissed her fingers. "I am spending my time with you, which is what I want.

"I want to love you so much," she finally admitted, "I really wish that I can be your empress."

The night gave both of them a newer understanding about the other, it also brought them a bit more closer.

(SPACE)

Whenever the two of them were outside either of their private chambers, they were always carefully observed by the majority of Hotohori's subjects.

"When he finally chose a woman he had to chose one that would be stupid enough to not agree to be empress immediately." This was muttered again. "He is eighteen and he needs an heir, otherwise there can be a risk of a civil war, there are some who would willingly support any one of his brothers."

"If only we can force her to agree to him immediately. It has been three months."

"He made it clear that any harsh words we use against her will be dealt with as an insult to him." This was spoken by one of his most senior advisors. "At least he wishes to marry."

The couple that they were discussing were taking one of their walks in the luxurious royal garden. Hotohori was still in his formal court dress while Yuri was naturally dressed regally as well, on top of the gown she was also wearing jewelleries. They were walking with them arms linked, clearly very happy to be in the other's company.

"There are many headdresses for you to wear if you desires to." Hotohori was saying, not missing the opportunity to touch the natural crown of her hair. "You always wear it in a ribbon, although you do changed the ribbons."

The ribbon on her hair tonight was actually one of his. Last night he had his hair down and loosely bound by a piece of white silk ribbon as he usually do when he prepared for rest, and when he declared his intention of giving her something she had laughed and pulled off his ribbon, saying: "Give this ribbon to me then, and it will be one of the greatest gift because you used to wear it in your hair."

"I think it is another sign of me holding onto my mother's memory, because they used to be my happiest memory." She said darkly. "I used to sit in her lap, and she would brush my hair for me, then tied it up like this with a single ribbon, which was the exact same way she tied her own hair. When I got a bit older she taught me how do it and would let me do her hair." She smiled a bit before she ended sadly, "before she died she made me kneel down against the bed so she could brush my hair a final time, that red ribbon was the last ribbon she tied into my hair."

"But you are not wearing it any more."

"I think I held onto the past too obsessively. I am willing to let some of it go because I want to start a new life. A life with you." She added shyly.

He put his hands on her cheeks and drew her to face him, he was so close that his breathings dabbed her face.

"Are you willing to be my empress then?" his voice was barely audible as he was so worried and afraid at the answer.

She nodded, and she tilted her head so that her lips met his. The last three months she spent with him finally convinced her that he would love her forever, and that she was in love with him too. It was not that logical but then love was never so.

He made her realize that she was Yuri, and should not be overshadowed by her mother. She would trust her instinct, even though she feared to do so for the whole of her life for simply being her mother's daughter. Her heart's feelings for Hotohori was so intense that she firmly believed that she was not wrong.

She started to miss him fiercely whenever he was not there, and when he spent her time with her, she was so happy as she would finally forget her original bitter life. She did not know, that what he did for her, was what she did to him. Before, she would wake up with 'Mama' on her lips as a last desperate cry, but now, she woke with his name.

This was love. She believed with all her heart that it would stay.

"I am ready to start a new life, I believe I love you, and I know that you will always love me."

"You will marry me then?" he embraced her so tightly as he was so afraid of this new joy slipping away from her. He had already noticed that her presence, even if it was just in his mind, drove away all his accumulated loneliness. "You will marry me tomorrow if we could?"

She nodded the second time, she slipped her arms around him so she could lean onto him.

"Yuri, what flowers do you like?"

"Hotohori…" he suddenly let go of her and started to dart his gaze around.

"I wish to give you something immediately, and since we are in the garden, what better gifts?" he was almost laughing like a young boy.

"Lilies." She said without any hesitation. "I have always loved the flower of my namesake the best."(3)

He, the emperor of Konan, the most powerful man in the kingdom knelt down in the mud, dirtying his fine robe, to placed his hands against the root. Yuri couldn't help but to laugh, after three months she knew how vain he was! To her, this was a great sign of his love for her.

"Lilies." He declared proudly as he placed the bosoms onto her hands. "Now I want a kiss from the lily herself."

Unfortunately for him, he was interrupted by the loud cries of his advisors.

"Your majesty, what were you doing?" they all demanded anxiously.

"Oh, that?" he gestured to the soils on his rob with his muddy hands. "I was picking some flowers for the future empress of Konan."

(SPACE)

He turned to smile at Yuri but his smile changed to an expression of wonder as he saw that she, was clutching to the lilies that he just gave her. She was stroking the petals lightly with one hand, while the other held them against her bosoms tightly.

The wedding was quickly arranged, to be held in only one week's time. It was slower then what Hotohori had anticipated, but he felt much better when Yuri told him about how royal weddings in her old country took months, or even years to arrange.

"We should pray to Suzaku together for our happiness." He told her on the eve of their wedding.

"Suzaku? The guardian of Konan? Will he listen to me, a foreigner?" she asked.

Hotohori had showed her the altar in his palace but she never really paid much attention to it, as she wasn't religious at all.

"Since my childhood I would pray to Suzaku very often, at first it was for me to find some happiness, then for my kingdom and people when I became the emperor." He told her as he knelt in front of the statue. "But recently I started to pray to Suzaku for myself again, to have the love of the beautiful woman whom I desire to be my empress.

"In a way it is almost strange," he continued after they both finished. Yuri prayed very sincerely, as she actually believed that the guardian of the country of the man that she loved, was responsible for making him love her. "As a child I imagined the legendary priestess of Suzaku to be the perfect woman, only to discover that she will not be, because I found her in you. Oh, you have not heard of the story at all?" he began to tell her the legend very quickly upon her confused face.

He failed to notice almost horror like expression that appeared.

"She have to be virginal?"

"She does not have to be, but she should, as otherwise the summoned God will demand her as a sacrifice, instead of just as a priestess."(4)

"I don't wish for such a fate." She muttered softly, leaning against him, recalling what they did the night she agreed to marry him.

"Are you afraid about the state of my kingdom?" he misunderstood her completely. "Do not worry, Konan is in a state of prosperity."(5)

She held onto him very tightly that night, even though they would be spending the majority of the next day together, parading in the town after the ceremony.

"I want you to be there forever." She declared. "Promise me that nothing would take you away from me permanently, especially not your kingdom."

"I promise I will. And there has been no major war in Konan since four years ago." He assured her again. (6)

Lying next to him Yuri allowed herself to forget about everything, she would marry him the next day and be the empress of Konan, and she would pretend that she was from this world all along, not from the other world.

I am not meant to be the priestess of Suzaku, I am only meant to be his love. She vowed again, watching the sleeping figure of the man who would be her husband soon.

She would not let guilt eat her up again, but it was so hard to do so.

As soon as Htohori declared their marriage, Yuri was treated as an empress in all but name. Everyone one saved for the emperor would bow to her, and she even had two personal maids. She thought about the two twin girls who were her first friends in this world, now shut in the palace as concubines. She asked Hotohori whether she could have them as her maids, and he agreed without any hesitation.

The empress was to have her own quarters in the palace, a little proportion of the palace would be hers. She didn't like this rule much as it meant that she had to be some distance away from Hotohori, he had laughed and told her it was a tradition that would not really affect them as he intended to spend all of his leisure times with her anyway.

Marriage…she wanted and feared this at the same time. She was not just marrying any man, she was to be the bride of a ruler.

Wordlessly she left the bed, draping Hotohori's discarded robe on her, she had wore his robes for many occasions now, but usually it was he who put them on her. Silently, she began to walk toward the main altar in the palace.

Kneeling down the closed her eyes, praying to Suzaku again.

"Let Konan be prosperous forever, because I don't want to be the priestess of Suzaku, I don't want to leave Hotohori ever. And let me be a child of this kingdom, not who I am. I don't want any one to discover my identity.

When she think of that night she often marvelled at the wonder of her not being spotted by any one in the tightly guarded palace. She slipped back into her chamber and found Hotohori still sleeping with a smile on her face.

She laid down next to him, and watched him until she too, fall asleep.

(SPACE)

Yuri would wake up next morning with Hotohori's arms around her, as if he never loosened his embrace.

In the next day she was crowned empress, and became the emperor's official consort. Her wedding garment was the finest dress she ever wore and instead of a ribbon, she wove a string of pearls into her hair. Walking beside Hotohori with his hand holding her so tightly, she felt as if she really belonged to Konan.

"Empress Houki!" Hotohori announced to his people, from now on this would be what everyone address her as. By being an empress, no one but the emperor could use her first name: Yuri. Not that many knew it, but from this day everyone would only call her by her title of Empress Houki.

(SPACE)

(1)Remembering the Chinese tv shows I watched set in ancient time and one or two of the books I read, life as one of the concubine in the palace is really harsh, you don't get to go free even if you want to, and chances are the emperor wouldn't even know you. Apparently quite a lot woman choose to kill themselves due to the loneness. Once more, since they are in a world like ancient China I thought I'll make it some what realistic. Also, according to Yuu Watase, Hotohori have two elder brother, one younger brother and two younger sister. So I think it's possible that his mother was either the favourite concubine or the empress, as he is not the oldest, but became the emperor.

(2) Once again, I remembered one tv show had a character who almost got elected into the palace. And there was like all these tests, first they made sure whether she was pretty, then they looked at her posture, and then the made her read this poem to see if her voice was nice etc etc, it was not just about physical beauty.

(3)Yuri is the Japanese word for lily.

(4) This bit is altered for the sake of the plot. In this version the priestesses does not get eaten by the God unless they are not a virgin (which differs from the original story again, as only virgins could be the priestess.)

(5)I remember how Hotohori said the priestess would only come when a kingdom is in great danger of war, or ending, but in the very beginning Konan doesn't seem that bad. I presume the danger is the other kingdom's wish of attacking them.

(6) I am saying that there had been a civil war with his brothers, this theme is hinted in the story, but it is not explained fully, a bit vauge.

Author's Note: This is the prologue, which explains how my OC (Yuri) ended up as Hotohori's empress. Please review this as it will really really motivate me. In the next chapter Miaka would be coming out with Tamahome and Yui, although they won't be focused on that much.


	2. Chapter One

****

_Author's Note: This is the second chapter, well officially the first chapter. As I said Miaka would be coming out with Tamahome, although it would still be a very minor appearance here, and despite what I said before, Yui won't be coming out. In this story her role will be that of a purely observer who read the book instead of Miaka's brother. I think this whole chapter is more building up to Miaka's appearance._

* * *

She knelt down in front of the statue and clasped her hands together, bending her head down reverently. Despite her status she was dressed very simply in a plain dress, with her long hair brushed, but unbound.

Even as she prayed, tears made their way down her cheeks. She had begun to cry alone again, for the fear of distressing Hotohori with her tears. But she had to weep, as she was starting to fall into a depression.

When she married Hotohori and became the Empress Houki, she thought that she would always be happy because she was in love with one who loved her so much too. Her mistake was that she forgot that while the emperor was above all, he was also bound to each and every one of his people. In a way he was in charge of every one's freedom, but yet he lacked his own freedom.

Thus he must fulfil the duty to his people : to produce an heir.

Although Hotohori loved her deeply, he could not prevent the rumours that were spreading around, that she was barren. As after one and a half year, there was no sign of her being pregnant at all. One and a half year…that was when she began to loss her original great happiness.

Once again, she begged Suzaku to give her a child, as she had done for the past three months. She was sure that he had the power to grant her wish, as he was the one to give all this to her. Yuri wasn't even praying for a son, she was just praying for a child: as that would show Konan that she was capable of producing a child.

The worst part was that Hotohori's advisors were constantly pressuring him to elect a more fertile concubine, after his blunt refusal they actually turned to her, begging her to persuade him for the greater good of Konan.

How could any one expect a woman who love her husband to tell him to be with another woman? Especially not her, who was from a society that forbid bigamy.1

It was beneath her dignity but she had lost her temper and ended up throwing a vase to the most outspoken advisor. Hotohori had held her very tightly that night and promised her that he would never do such a thing.

But she was still afraid, because it was his duty to produce an heir, and if he really had to then there would be nothing that she could do to stop him.

She did not even wanted to think about such a thing, that he would be making love to another woman, even if it was just for the sake of conceiving a child, and that another woman would gave him what she so desperately wanted to give him herself.

Deep down in her heart she began to wander whether she was punished for not telling Hotohori her real origin and therefore failing to be the priestess of Suzaku, could this be her punishment? But as always, she pretended that was not possible.

He placed his hand gently on her shoulder, and used the other one to drape one of her finest robes onto her, he then knelt in front of the altar beside her.

"You finished court very early today." she forced her voice to remain very calm, and hoped that the tear stains were gone.

"I am required to go on a procession later, so the court ended a bit early." He answered gently, taking her hands into his. "I went to your chambers and your maids told me that you are praying here. They also said…" the sadness in his voice was easily audible to her. "That you have spent the past three months praying to Suzaku when I leave you to go to court every morning."

Yuri bent her head down, feeling the urge of crying again due to the tenderness in his voice, and the love in his eyes.

"I am very worried for you, Yuri." He stated quietly. "I can tell that you have been crying even if you do not do it in front of me, and…"

"I am not sick." She interrupted quickly.

"Not in body, no. But you are depressed, and that might led to serious illness. I talked to the royal physician last night," Hotohori admitted. "He told me about your body condition and he also," he kissed her gently, drawing her into his embrace, "told me that there is no indication of you being barren at all. I believe, no, I know that you will bear our child. Did you not tell me once that your mother had your very late, when she was in her mid thirties? Maybe you will be like that as well."

Her soft mutterings to his hair did not escape him.

"I don't want you to be with any one else, even if I can not bear a child."

"We will have children. Also, I have told my advisors that I will not select another concubine. I cannot share you, so you will not share me either. Yuri, please believe me. Do you remember what I promised you on the eve of our wedding night? Not even my kingdom will take me away from you."

Hotohori was pestered as much as Yuri during the six months, it began six months ago as that was when they first realized the danger that Konan is facing from another kingdom. He knew that by logic, due to his duty, he should be consenting to his advisor's wish.2

But that idea truly sickened him, because he would imagine Yuri being with another man if he was with another woman, although he knew that she would never do such things. Because of that, he realized he could not do so himself, even if it meant not obeying all of his duty to his kingdom.

His love for Yuri was a crazy thing, and maybe even a bit troublesome for a man in his role, but nonetheless he was glad for her. She gave him pure happiness just by being there.

With her in his embrace he could ignore all these problems, the threat of external and internal war, the possibility of having no heir just yet. The head who wore the crown does bear a heavy weight. He truly wished that he could just live with her as ordinary peasants, being together every day instead of only see her at the evening because of the state.

"Stay with me a bit longer." Yuri said as she kissed him, "I feel so peaceful here."

He nodded, and the two of them continued to kneel in front of the statue, holding onto each other, free from the pressure that constantly pestered them just because they were who they were.

* * *

The empress' two maids both loved their mistress devotedly, for not only had she been their friends before she even become the emperor's consort, she had not forgot them or even held a grudge for what their father had tried to do. She even liberated them from the empty fate they would suffer as the unwanted concubines of the emperor.

Naturally, they were both upset at the depression that had began to grew in Yuri.

"Mistress!"much to their surprise she returned from the altar with a slight smile on her face, the two of them immediately went up to her and took her hands, guiding her to her dressing table. "You seems happy!"

At her two faithful maids Yuri gave them a deeper smile, she loved these two girls as sisters…she always wished that she could love her half-siblings but she had no chance as her "stepmother" hated her, and so forbid her children to even talk to her.

She was truly happy in this world, not only were Hotohori and her in love, she had two sisters who loved her back too. All she wanted was a child, then there would be no threat to her happiness…

"Hotohori reassures me that he loves me, and will not elect another." she said almost dreamily. "He will wait for me."3

"We are so glad that you are happy!" one of the maids said with the other nodding fervently, the two of them knelt down in front of Yuri. "We both hate seeing you cry!"

"Oh, I have worried you two as well," Yuri gently patted the two girls' head affectionately. "Do not worry for me, I will be fine. The emperor believes in me, so I will believe in myself."

Her gaze suddenly rested onto the sword that hung in one corner and ever observant, one of her maids quickly ran and took it for her.

Lovingly, Yuri fingered the sheath, before she drew the sword out. This was yet another of the numerous gifts that she had received from Hotohori, but this was perhaps the most unorthodox present. On top of that, he would actually teach her in one of the rare spare times he had.

She actually became very skilful with wielding a sword, as she used to spend half of her mornings when Hotohori was at court to practise with her sword in the armoury with the sword master, who only taught her due to Hotohori's orders, as it was truly highly unconventional for the empress to 'play' with a sword. Her skill grew greatly not only because Hotohori was an excellent teacher, buy also because she was filled with the desire of pleasing him.4

The sword felt a bit heavier due to the three months' neglect and she was very tempted to use it again, but she had to sheath it and order her maid to hang it back.

"Do you not wish to practise, mistress?"

"I wish to but I cannot, the royal physician told me to not engage myself in any sort of active activity." Yuri explained.

Perhaps she should practise her calligraphy instead, that was what she would do in the other half of her morning, and this was something that Hotohori would teacher her as well, which naturally made her a most hard working pupil. Due to calligraphy she gained a great knowledge of most of Konan's character, and could actually compose letters herself without summoning a scribe to do it for her.

She quitted school as soon as she could, and even when she was at school she did not join any club as she would be working. She was very knowledgeable in the art of making herself appear older, she had been practising since her twelfth birthday.

The only club that she joined was ikebana , that was before her mother's death when she was very little. She had took great delight in showing her mother the flowers that she arranged, and her mother had placed them in front of the doorway, the space where it would be seen the most often. It must have been one of her mother's worse relationship period as Yuri recollected how there were a lot of men whom her mother showed the flowers to.

The art of calligraphy was something completely new to her but Hotohori made it easier then it seemed. He would write a character out for her and taking her hand he would trace the character with her finger, then held her hand as she wrote it herself.

If only she did not have to worry about not being able to be pregnant. Hotohori reassured her but she was still worried.

* * *

Hotohori was pondering about the strange girl that he had captured today, along with her companion. The red light that surrounded her was especially puzzling, could she actually be the priestess of Suzaku?

But she was nothing like what he imagined the priestess would be, as he told Yuri he had once imagined her to be the perfect woman. It was true that it would be impossible as to him, Yuri was the symbol of perfection but still, he did not expect the priestess to be so…foolish?5

That would be the right description, he had been truly shocked at the boldness of someone who dared to walk right up to him and talked to him as if he really was just a nobody…but then the priestess was meant to be from another world, so maybe that was why, as to her he really would be a nobody.

"Your majesty." Yuri's two maids knelt as was required by the rituals that always surrounded him.

"How is your mistress today?" he asked, by this time he knew that whenever they come out of Yuri's private chamber to greet him, it meant that their mistress was resting.

"She is happy today." They said eagerly.

Nodding lightly, he dismissed them. Inside, he found her sitting on her dressing table, her chin supported by one hand, while her other hand held a book. Obviously she had wanted to wait for him.

Tenderly, he pricked the book from her loose fingers and carried her to her bed. Lying her down he began to undo her hair, even though he was filled with a slight regret that she was not awake, he did not want to wake her up, as she had been suffering from insomnia lately.

If the girl was indeed the priestess of Suzaku then all of their problems would be gone. He would see Yuri smiling and happy again, as she had been the first one and half year of their wedding.

"I must find it out quickly then." He vowed.

* * *

As chance would have it, Hotohori found the girl soon by pure accident. He had been waiting for Yuri outside his quarters when the girl wandered in. He offered to give her a 'tour' around the palace, hoping to discover more of her.

The result was certainly rewarding.

"You are not from this world?" he chocked out, beyond this, everything else she said was lost to him. He only recollected some mumbling replies that he managed to make up.

He saw Yuri in his mind, happy at the news as it meant that Konan would be safe, he would be safe too, and she would no longer be harassed by his advisors for not being pregnant and…

"Are you alright?" he finally noticed that the girl Miaka, was actually rather quiet, prettu unusual for some one who talked to a stranger so energetically.

"It is just that you are so beautiful!" Miaka mumbled.

At this he couldn't help but so smile, a compliment on top of good news?

"That is what everyone says…" he began, only to hear the sound of the guards approaching.6

"There you are…" the guard began, but upon seeing her companion he immediately knelt down.

"Your majesty!"

"Your majesty?" Miaka's companion, the youth she called Tamahome repeated dumbly, before he too quickly knelt down.

"Hotohori, you are the empress?" Miaka mumbled.

"Miaka, you idiot, that is the emperor!" Tamahome whispered, and not for the first time, he cursed having met this girl. She probably just signed their death warrant.

"A man?" with her eyes wide open Miaka approached Hotohori and touched his chest, then began to move her hand around. "…it's not there.

"What about below…" she half muttered to herself.7

Hotohori was tempted to burst out laughing, but that would be a too undignified a thing to do. He decided that he'll restrain himself and only laughed at this later on, when he was alone with Yuri. At this thought he smiled, that would be good, to see her smile naturally again. He was too aware that she would force herself to be happy in order to spare him any worries. But how could that be? He would always sense sadness in her, because he love her so much.

"Take them to the court." He ordered.

* * *

By the time Yuri woke up it was noon, and she figured that Hotohori would have finished court now, and even if he wasn't, she would wait for him outside. She suddenly had an urge to see him right now, if she was lucky she could probably spend a brief time with him before he get occupied. Very rarely, he would have time for her during the afternoon.

Her maids dressed her in one of her most fanciest gown among her now many elaborate dresses, then she wove the strand of pearl into her hair. For good measure she took her fan with her, she still found it so hard to believe that she was an empress!

The fan in her hand had been a gift to Hotohori from one of his states upon hearing the news of the royal marriage, and in turn he gave it to her. He also wrote out a poem to her on the fine fabric and even signed his name on it. Giving her all the more reason to treasure this fan even more.8

A poem that promises unlimited love and eternal happiness, a suitable gift to a bride.

"His court is not finished yet, it seems." She shrugged, it was one of her special privilege as the empress to be able to stand right outside the court. Unlike the rest of the concubines and serving girls she had great freedom in the palace, although she rarely exercise that power.9

"Hear," she smiled at Hotohori's voice, it was almost strange how he could sound so serious to everyone else but be so tender and gentle to her. But her smile did not last long.

"This girl is now the Suzaku priestess."

"Suzaku priestess?" at this she actually walked in through the door.

'Mistress, you are not allowed to go in!" her maids reminded her urgently, pulling at the wide sleeves on her dress.

But Yuri seemed to be in a complete daze. She continued walking until she could see the half turning face of the girl who stood in front of the kneeling courtiers.

"Oh my gosh…" Yuri whispered, "Miaka…how did you come to be here?"

Then without any warning she fell down into a dead faint.

Her two maids exchanged a nervous glance before nodding, knowing the part that they must play. Half dragging, half carrying her, they took her to the door way. It should be alright if anyone found them there. They knew that the emperor loved their mistress very deep but still, rules were rules.

"What possessed her to go in?" one of her maid asked. "She usually doesn't even come here."

"I don't know…oh, our poor lady." Her sister replied, pressing a handkerchief against Yuri's forehead. "I never thought she would faint like this."

"What is all this?" one of the courtier demanded. "The emperor is at court, there should be no disturbance! You two should not even be here."

"We accompanied the empress outside!" the two girls said together. "The empress then fainted, and we could not leave her lying outside, so we took her here!"

Within seconds the emperor he himself hurried out, followed by Miaka and Tamahome, but neither of them managed to have a good look at Yuri as Hotohori took her into his arms the moment he saw her lying there.

"Why…" Hotohori asked her, truly shocked. Yuri was slender and rather delicate, and she had a break down before that almost caused her to faint, but he never expected her to suddenly faint like this.

"I will take the empress back to the chambers, you," he ordered, "will make sure that the Suzaku priestess and the celestial warrior are comfortable in the palace.

"Who is that?" Miaka asked, watching Hotohori leaving with the two girls on either side of him.

"That is the Empress Houki, the emperor's consort."

"Houki?" she said out aloud, unaware of the courtier's hiss of: "_Empress_ Houki!" "How come that sounds so familiar? I am sure I heard of the name before."

But she quickly forget all about it when she was led to very fancy room with the promise of a meal very soon.

* * *

1 In China until the 20th century you were allowed to have bigamy, and the children wouldn't actually be regarded as a bastard or anything, and they would be allowed to inherit.

2 Personally I don't really think not being pregnant after one and half year is a long time, but since both Konan and Hotohori are in danger it kind of make sense that the advisors felt a strong need of the emperor to produce an heir immediately.

3 Once again, she really should be calling Hotohori by his title or your majesty even in private as it seems not even the empress will be allowed to call the emperor just by his name. but that will make this story way too…awkward? She will just call him by his first name when they are alone.

4 It seems that Hotohori's power as a celestial warrior is being a master swordsman, so I always think that he can actually beat Tamahome in fencing. Tamahome is excellent in all the eighteen traditional weapon as the author said, but Hotohori should be better as sword fighting is his special skill.

5 Obviously Hotohori is my favorite character but I actually quite like Miaka also to an extend. Although her foolishness truly frustrate me sometime! Example, just following a random stranger- who turned out to be a slaver, as well as just charging up to the emperor.

6 I realize that when I write fan fiction I don't really like to write about the bit that the authors themselves had already write, cause these bits are already what every one knows. I guess this is another example. So sorry about the rest of the incident, I will just cut to the court scene really quick.

7 When I first read Fushigi Yugi, like Miaka I thought Hotohori was a female too, and Miaka's reaction had always crack me up, so I just thought I'll still put that in. 

8 Doesn't state often send gift to the emperor as a gesture of good will, and sometimes it is their duty? In any case I think every state would be required to give the emperor something on such an occasion.

9 Realistically, I really don't think this would be possible. Even though she is a empress, I think the line will probably be drawn in front of the court. She probably would have more freedom by being able to go to any part of the inner palace where the concubines are kept, and maybe to the emperor's quarters, but I'm not that sure, but it is highly unlikely that she would be allowed to stand right outside the court. Hey, but this is only a story, a fan fic on top of that, so pardon my historical inaccuracies.

* * *

_Author's Note: a big thanks to anyone who reaches here, please review, they matter a lot no matter what it says, positive or negative, long or short. Well, this is this chapter down, while this story is ultimately focusing on Hotohori and Yuri, in the next chapter Miaka will come out more, and Nuriko will be coming out as well. And Yuri will be talking to Miaka._


	3. Chapter Two

_Author's Note: Once again, thank you for every one that reads it and a bigger thanks to those that reviwed it. I was on the net the other day and I found some information about Fushigi Yugi that I didn't know before._

_Hotohori's tittle is Saihitei and his real name is actually Seishuku (I had no idea he was called that). In this story every one will still call him Hotohori instead of Seishuku, which is what every one do in the anime and manage so…  I did some research on an online dictionary and emperor is Koutei, while empress Kougou. So I think Yuri's title of Empress Houki will be Houkigou _

_I'm probably not going to use these phrase though as I'll keep my story in English.

* * *

_

Once she settled into her new role as the Suzaku priestess, Miaka actually found her life most enjoyable. She was treated with the ultimate respect by almost every single person, and her only regret was that Yui was not here with her to share this fun.

Initially she was deeply worried about her exams but she was sure that her wish of passing her entrance exams would be granted as soon as she finish this strange quest that she stumbled to.

So far, they have found the third celestial warrior, Nuriko, one of the emperor's concubines. From what she heard, it seemed that all the imperial concubines were unwanted by Hotohori, who was clearly very much in love with his elected empress.

Although Nuriko seemed to regard her with hostility, Miaka was sure that she would be able to work her way through the other's stubborn jealousy by volunteering to be her personal maid.

As if there was something to be jealous about! Miaka thought as she tugged the other's long hair. She rarely gets to be alone with Hotohori, and everyone knew that he was usually in the empress' quarters.

She actually hasn't even talked to the empress yet, it would be interesting to meet her, and see her properly. The servants all spoke of the empress with reverence, while the emperor's advisors would frown at the mentioning of Empress Houki.

Houki…once more Miaka frowned, she was sure she had heard of the name before. Now more then ever, she wanted to meet the empress, but Hotohori had told her that she couldn't just yet, as she was still unwell.

"What are you doing!" Nuriko screeched out, bringing her hands sharply down she caused the jar of rouge beside her to fly toward Miaka's face. "You are pulling my hair!"1

"Sorry!" Miaka grimaced as she attempted to brush the hair as gently as she could manage, she really wasn't skilled at doing such things.

"Hey Nuriko, what is the empress like?"

"The empress?" at this Nuriko frowned, her eyes becoming very hard. "Well…she is rather pretty I suppose, as she was one of the one hundred women that were chosen for the emperor." An idea suddenly appeared to her, bending her head down she hid her smirk as she realized that she could shoot two birds with one stone. "She is usually in her own part of the palace…I went there to pay my respect to her once but…"

"But?"

"One of my ear rings dropped into the pond there, it is a very valuable one too." she spun around and grabbed Miaka's hand, her eyes suddenly wet. "It was my mother's gift to me as a parting gift, when I was selected to go into the palace."

"Why don't you just go back to the pond and search for it?"

"I cannot leave my own quarters without permission. Oh!" dramatically, for good measure, Nuriko buried her face into her hands. "If only I could go…"

"I'll do it for you!" Miaka immediately offered, seeing this a chance of winning Nuriko's friendship. "I am allowed to go anywhere in the palace so I'll get it for you."

As soon as she left Nuriko laughed and pulled open her drawers, carefully she took out the pair of supposedly missing ear rings, admiring them as she put them on. Nuriko, naturally, has never even went anywhere near the empress' private chambers.2

While it was true that Miaka might have been granted permission to go anywhere, the empress' section of the palace was a bit different. With the exception of the emperor, and those who received his orders to go in there specifically, no one may enter without the empress' permission.

And it seemed that the empress was not deeply fond of the priestess of Suzaku, otherwise why hasn't the empress meet the Suzaku priestess yet?

"Two birds with one stones." Nuriko smirked again, but deep down she was actually angry. It was just simply not fair that Miaka could have the emperor's attention! What she had sought and failed to obtain for the past two years.

* * *

Whatever cause that made Yuri faint that day, was still present as she was still spending most of her days lying on her bed, even though the incident happened quite some time ago. Hotohori summoned the royal physician and the verdict was: "a depression of the mind that led to a physical invalidism." 

"Everything is fine now, Yuri, the priestess of Suzaku is here, she will summon Suzaku, who will grant our wish." He whispered, squeezing her hand. "Do you want to talk to her? She is a cheerful girl and maybe she can make you feel better."

"I don't want to see her!" this uncharacteristic loud scream caused her maids to quickly withdrew, while Hotohori actually flinched slightly, seeing this she lowered her voice and even sat up so she could put her arms around him. "I am so sorry, Hotohori, but keep her away from me!"

"Why?" he pressed on, truly puzzled.

"I don't want to see her." Was all she would say. "I know I am being unreasonable but I simply don't want to see her."

"Are you jealous?" it seemed pretty ridiculous but then she had underwent so many pressures lately and the gossips were not helping at all. "I know I have spent sometime alone with her but I…"

"It is not because of that." She interrupted quickly. "I just don't want to see her. The sight of her is a reminder of how Konan is in danger."

The way she stuttered made the lie very clear.

"What is happening, Yuri?" he asked sadly, "That you would lie to me?"

"Because I do not wish to lose you," she sank into her bed again, closing her eyes after this strange answer.

"Please," bending down he kissed her forehead, "please tell me the truth."

"How can I tell you the truth if I will lose you by doing so?" seeing her tears he could only embrace her, abandoning his question as he could not bear to see her cry even more.

But he was greatly puzzled at her answer. Why was she so afraid of losing him by telling him her reason of not wanting to see the Suzaku priestess?

What could it possibly be?

* * *

Unknown to them, Miaka was only a few steps away. Armed with only a torch she began to stalk around the pond hoping to find the lost earring. Unfortunately for her, her sense of balance was not the best, so after a rather bad trip she ended up in the pond, and even more unfortunate, the seaweeds attached themselves around her leg.

* * *

"Let us walk in the garden for a while," Hotohori suggested. "I always have a fondness for doing so, as we were walking in a garden when you told me that you would marry me." 

Nodding, she stood up with him supporting her although it was not necessary. Her maids approached her to help her dress, one holding a gown while the other had her hair brush and that strand of pearls.

"Don't bother with all that, there is no point for me to dress myself when all I am doing is take a little walk in the garden, and there will be no one else there any way." Yuri said gently, bidding them to go and rest.

"You will be cold, so wear this." Hotohori told her as he selected her favourite robe.

Taking the robe she kissed him before they went to the garden hand in hand, she really loved him so much and it pains her to have to lie to him. Not for the first time she wished that she had told him that she was from the other world the moment they met, or at the very least during the period when he had wooed her.

Then she wouldn't be tormented with guilt. Right now her biggest fear was to see Miaka in case she was recognized, and then Hotohori would know that she was from the other world. Even though it had been five years since she last saw Miaka, and even before then Miaka only saw glimpses of her, and they never really talked to one another although Yuri would have loved them to be closer.

"Do you still love the flowers of your namesake best?" he asked as he took her to the patch of lilies.

"People do not change so fast in two years." She said softly, "I…Hotohori, the pond!"

Turning he saw that the water was rippling in such a violent way that it suggested some sort of creature or person hiding in there. Drawing out his sword Hotohori carefully walked to the pond, as an emperor he was well aware of the danger of assassination. Even if the assassin was very unskilled by giving himself away in an obvious fashion, a person who wished to kill him must be taken seriously.

Gasping, Miaka staggered up, collapsing on the bank, crushing a few of the flowers that grew beside the pond.

"That was close!" she breathed out the sigh of relief very loudly.

"Miaka…" Hotohori was truly torn between laughing and worrying. The situation was amusing as it seemed a very typical thing for Miaka to do, enter somewhere she shouldn't be and then revealed what she did in such a method. He was also a bit worried as he noticed that Yuri was turning rather pale at the sight of the Suzaku priestess.

"Hotohori? Ha, I didn't thought I'll be seeing you here. I'm here because Nuriko lost something here and she want me to look for it since she can't leave her own quarters." Miaka explained quickly in her usual straightforward fashion. "I'm not trying to steal anything so you can put that sword away!"

She was going to continue when she suddenly noticed the women standing beside Hotohori, with her arm resting on his. Miaka felt the same shock she had experienced when she saw Hotohori: that woman was so beautiful as well.

Miaka had a quick glimpse at the woman, by being a girl she naturally noticed the other's cloth. Some sort of thin under-dress with the skirt in multiple layers, and a furry outer robe with the sleeves wide and trailing. Both cloths seemed to be made of fine material, and the robe was richly embroidered. She made a mental note to search the wardrobe in the chamber she was given as soon as possible.

The woman's long raven hair made her very envious, she had always wanted hair that long, hair that flows down to her waist, but like most girls, she was forced to cut her hair as soon as she finished elementary school. The lady's hair was very pretty as well, as it was unbound the curly texture was very obvious.3

She only wished that she was more presentable in front of this beautiful lady, instead of having her school uniform soaked and her own hair tangled.

A important thought suddenly entered her mind as she recalled what happened in her meeting with Hotohori.

Reaching foreword she grabbed the other's chest.4

"MIAKA!" Hotohori hissed, pulling Yuri away from the younger girl. "What…what are you doing?"

The two naturally attached bundles in front of the chest was a clear sign to Miaka that unlike Hotohori, she was right in thinking of this person as a woman. Laughing a bit nervously she quickly began to explain.

"I just wanted to make sure that she is a woman."

"Make sure that I am a woman?" Yuri muttered, she almost had a heart attack when Miaka grabbed her, she had thought that Miaka was going to announce to the whole world who she was. At what just happened Yuri suddenly reached to the conclusion that her fears in the past days might have been completely unjustified.

"You…you don't recognize...you don't know who I am do you?" Yuri asked bluntly.

She retreat into Hotohori's arms even more when a pair of large eyes suddenly appeared right in front of her. Miaka began to circle around her, examining her in every angle.5

"No!" she finally announced. "I don't know who you are."

Much to Hotohori's surprise, Yuri smiled, and stepped forward to introduce herself.

"I am the empress Houki, consort to the emperor."

"Oh so you are the empress." She then began to explain the story again.

"I have never seen this 'Nuriko'." Yuri told her truthfully. "With the exception of my two maids I have not even talked with any other of the emperor's concubines."

"Is Nuriko causing trouble for you again?" Hotohori asked. "Should I issue an order?"

"No, no, no!" Miaka laughed. "I want to be her friend and you can't order a person to be my friend! I'll just give her this pretty stone as compensation for her lost ear ring."

She began to walk away but she suddenly stopped and she went up to Yuri and took the other's hand.

"I want to be your friend too! Can I come here again?"

"I…I…" Yuri muttered. "Maybe."

"That's good enough! Good bye then, Hotohori, I'll probably see you tomorrow. Oh wait, I won't, I am going to the market with Tamahome tomorrow, some other time then! Good bye to you too, Empress Houki! Maybe I'll know your name next time I see you."6

"She seems to like you quite a lot." Hotohori finally commented.

"With such a bright and cheerful nature she will be able to like most people, a rare gift." Yuri said, it was just a shame she never get to see much of that sunny nature, "She appears quite young though."

"She is fifteen, only five years younger then us."7

"Fifteen?"

When she in that world two years ago Miaka had recently turned fifteen, and the girl was still fifteen? So time passed faster in this world but did that mean anything?8

"You saw her and that wasn't that bad, was it?" he kissed her tenderly before wrapping his arms around her once more. "I am still here and I still love you so much."

"Yes, maybe I was wrong." Sinking into his embrace she smiled happily for the first time since the arrival of the Suzaku priestess. "Only promise me that you will always love me."

"I always will," Stroking her hair, he quoted out the poem that he had wrote on her fan. "_In the heavens, the stars are twinkling. In the ground, the flowers are blooming. And now, in my universe, my love for you is shining. It won't stop. It won't be stopped. Love, like breathing, is irreplaceable. I'm glad I was born, because I exist for you. I have only one wish: your happiness._"9

* * *

When Miaka returned to Nuriko's room she found Tamahome there as well, the latter shaking the former, who was yelling so loudly and sharply that she was almost screeching. 

"Why does the emperor always like women from foreign places?" Nuriko was screaming. "First the empress came from some other country or so and he choose her the moment he saw her and did not even give the rest of the women a chance. I didn't even get to meet him because of her! He saw her and he just forget about everyone else.

"Then she is barren but he refuses to elect another. It is all because of her that I have no chance of being noticed by the emperor at all!

"And Miaka…why is the emperor spending so much time with her when he wouldn't do so to any other of his concubines?"

"So you like Hotohori!"

"Miaka, are you alright?" Tamahome immediately asked.

"I'm fine!" walking up to Nuriko she stretched her hand out with the rock on it. "I didn't find your ear ring but this stone is quite pretty too, why don't you have this and wear it as a necklace?"

"I…"

"I am sorry that you like Hotohori but I met him and his empress tonight and I know he really loves her, because he told me that the one wish he would wish is for his people to be happy, but the wish he most desire is to make his empress happy."

"Idiot, you are just making the situation even worse." Tamahome hissed to Miaka.

"Don't worry about it, Nuriko!" Miaka laughed, patting the other's back. "Come to the market with Tamahome and I tomorrow, we are bound to meet some gorgeous boys!"

"Miaka…that is not why we are going…"

"Why are you being so nice to me after what I just did?" Nuriko asked at the same time, and Miaka seemed to regard her question as the more important one, as she answered her instead of Tamahome.

"Because I want you to be my friend!"

* * *

The other cause of Yuri's illness brought by Miaka beside guilt was the memories that she had tried so hard to forget. She would dream of these lonely days even though she could feel Hotohori's arms around her. These memories affected her more then she imagined. 

She understood her beloved's loneliness too well because she herself had underwent a similar feeling until the day she met Hotohori, now Miaka's arrival made many of what she wanted to forget surface again.

"But maybe you will be proud of me, mama," she was crouching beside the pond, trying to see her mother's face in her rather blurred reflection. "You made me promise that I will marry a good man who will take care of me forever, unlike what happened to you. I have done that, and I think you would like your son-in-law very much if you could meet him."

Her father? She rarely thought of her father since the day he abandoned them all, though he had been the one person whose love she desperately wanted to possess. Childishly she had reasoned that a father would love a child if the mother did.

Hotohori heard all the words his beloved empress said in a private reverie that was no longer silent. He was glad that she was feeling better but he was still a bit upset at what happened last night, as she actually lied to him.

But he trusted her and he believed in her, he was sure that she would tell him her reasons when she was ready. He had told her that she would have a choice in every thing that she do, so he would not force her to give him the answer, although he greatly desired it.

Walking to her he placed his arms on her shoulders, and she lovingly pressed his hand against her face.

Their pleasant interlude, however, was interrupted by a soldier who knelt at the doorway to the empress' section of the palace.

"Your majesty, the celestial warrior Tamahome is back with the priestess, she is unconscious and…"

"Miaka is sick!" Tamahome snapped, approaching with Miaka in his arms, while Nuriko was beside him, her hand on Miaka's forehead. "We met some slavers in the city and…"

"What are you two just standing there for? Tamahome, take her to my room so she can lie down!" Yuri snapped. "Nuriko, go and fetch the royal physician at once!"

* * *

Maiak felt herself being placed onto a soft bed and then someone was dabbing water onto her forehead. Squinting her eyes open she saw her mother. 

"Mama…Papa…"

It wasn't her mother after all, but her father? Her father whom she had not seen for about five years now. He was just as she remembered, so cheerful, he would always greet them with a joke. When he was there they were all laughing.

"Onichan?"10

The figure become blurry again and when her eyes finally focused she saw another person. A much elder girl whom she rarely get to see, as her mother forbade her to see her, and even if she wanted to, the other's very early schedule made meetings quite impossible.

"Oneesan?"11

She could still recognize that hair style, when she first came to them her hair was so long and she would always tie half of it up with a ribbon, later on she had to cut it but Miaka was sure that the last time she saw her, the hair had grew rather long again. As a child, Miaka had always been filled with envy wherever she saw her half sister. Because she was so beautiful.

Yet that was such a long time ago, not as long as her father's absence, but it would still have been a few years. She remembered so little of her now.12

The ribbon seemed unnaturally bright and she was suddenly filled with a desire of tugging it loose.

"You hair is so pretty, oneesan, how do you tie it like that just by one ribbon?"

If Hotohori, Tamahome and Nuriko had remain in Yuri's chamber then they would have seen Yuri turning very pale at the mentioning of the word elder sister, and when Miaka tugged her hair she withdrew, almost stumbling.

"Miaka…" Yuri whispered dumbly, watching the younger girl who was still stretching her hand out and muttering. "So you will still recognize me."

* * *

When the rest returned they found Yuri's maids taking over the job their mistress was previously doing, the two young girls told Hotohori that the empress was at the altar of Suzaku. 

Hotohori found her kneeling in front of the statue again, her eyes tightly shut with her hands clenched together. She was so absorbed in her prayers that she didn't even notice him.

"We found a way to send her back."

At the sound of his voice she trembled slightly and he fancied that the glows of her eyes were almost wild, but seeing that it was only him she seemed to immediately calm down.

"You will send her away?" she asked, hugging him tightly.

"She promises that she will be back." He returned her hug, not fully sure of why she was embracing him in an almost desperate fashion. A few minutes later he was even more shock as he felt the front of his robe getting damp.

"I am so sorry to be such a burden to you, Hotohori," she whispered between her weeping, "You are worrying about your whole kingdom while I am distracting you by being so weak and almost hysterical! But it's just that I am so worried about every thing!"

"I know the pressure you have went through, it is all right to cry, Yuri." He assured her, pulling her even closer to breath the fragrance of her hair, while his lips rested on her forehead.

Had he know the real reason of her tears then he would not just hold her in his arms. Yuri was crying because she realized that she could no longer stay beside him as his empress, his consort, his beloved.

As soon as Miaka had that look of half awareness in her eyes, she knew that she must leave him, because Miaka would eventually recognize her as her half sister, and once she revealed that, Hotohori would know that she was from the other world.

She could have spared him and his people so much pain if she had told him that she was from that world in the first place. But that was her hidden secret, because of her own selfish desire of wanting to be with him as his empress she concealed it.13

"I am being punished." She whispered to herself.

She would leave because she could not bear to see the look of hurt and even fury in Hotohori's eyes when he discovered her identity. She was sure that he would be angry because although he loved her so much, his people were very important too. To an extent they were more important then her, and she made them suffer through her own selfishness.

We will both break our promise, she concluded sadly. She was clinging onto Hotohori so tightly because soon she would be letting go out of her own freewill, and be away from him.

Yet she rather release her hold herself instead of letting him shook her hand off.

1 In this fan fiction Nuriko's jealousy on Miaka will be completely unrational, she will be jealous on the base that Miaka gets to spend sometime alone with Hotohori.

2 I am not that sure but it seems that in the anime she was actually wearing both.

3 I don't know what exact year Fushigi Yugi was set in but I presume girls in Japan have to cut their hair after elementary school (primary) in Japan as well. I think it is quite a Chinese, Japanese, Taiwanese and Korean thing, girls have to cut their hair after elementary school. I don't really know if they still do it in these country though, it didn't happen to me as I went to New Zealand when I was in elementary school. But my mum had to cut her hair up to her ears when she entered junior high school, and my cousin who is a few years older then me, had to have her hair cut to her chin.

4 I know that technically Miaka shouldn't be doing this yet as she only got fooled by Hotohori, right now she still thinks Nuriko is a woman. But well, Miaka's action in regard to that always crack me up so I thought I'll put that in with her first meeting with Yuri. Well, let us just presumed that for the sake of this story that she is either a bit paranoid after discovering Hotohori is actually a man, or/and she have been fooled by others as well.

5 One thing I noticed while reading the manga is that the author quite like doing this, making the characters being examined in various angles. I don't know how to describe this but for example, when Miaka first told Hotohori that she is from another world, we see Miaka in the centre, while the author drew Hotohori three times in the same frame to show him looking at her from ever angle. That is what I am trying to describe, this is that Miaka is doing to Yuri.

6 Have I made Miaka a bit blond? But to be honest, I always imagine Miaka to be a rather blond sort of character as she can be really dumb sometimes.

7 In the manga Hotohori is actually eighteen but due to the plot of the story he will be older. Yuri met him when they were both eighteen and since two years passed they are naturally now twenty. I want them to be a bit older as I am trying to go for a more serious path, and also, I don't think Yuri would agree to marry him if she was only sixteen at that time.

8 We all know that time pass faster in the book world, and Taisuki told Miaka that it had been two years since he last saw her when for Miaka, it was only half a year. So the same thing happened.

9 The poem that Hotohori quoted to Yuri is actually one of Hotohori's character song, it is called "Boki no Uchuu ni kimi ga iru, (In my universe, there is you) and I got the translation from his character songs are really beautiful. I admit that I did do some…editing? I cut some lines off, but to see the original, go to that site. Although it kind of make me feel more sad that he didn't end up with the one he love, so this is where fan fiction comes in!

10 According to the site I used this is suppose to be the affectionate term of elder brother.

11 This is meant to be the more formal way of addressing an elder sister.

12 By this time I think it is really obvious who Yuri is, although Miaka herself will not find out until the next chapter. Basically in this fan fiction Yuri is Miaka's half sister, they share the same father.

13 Finally, the title of the story.

* * *

_Author's Note__: Phew, chapter two (part three) done. I think Yuri's reason is understandable, but not that logical, but then she is a woman in love. I don't really think Hotohori will hate her for not telling him that she is from that world as she only knows about the legend after she lost her chastity and I highly doubt that he would want her to die for Konan's sake. (In my version a priestess can still summon one of the God even if she is not a virgin, the only draw back is that she will be killed by the God for certain, which is a clue to what I plan to do later on..) _

_In the next chapter Miaka would be back to her own world and through her we discover more about Yuri's past in her 'old' world. Yuri will also leave Hotohori. And in the next next chapter Tasuki will be found by Yuri_


	4. Chapter Three

**_Author's Note: As I wrote this I suddenly decided to let Chichiri come out with Tai Yi-Jun, in regard to Tai Yi-Jun I found this a bit confusing, she is a goddess, but is she major or minor? I actually am not very sure, as she is not all powerful.

* * *

_**

The journey to Tai Yi-Jun's place was certainly entertaining and full of surprises, especially when Miaka found out the true sex of Nuriko.

"You are a man and yet you try to get Hotohori's attention." Miaka protested again, as they waited for Tai Yi-Jun to finish her preparations.1

"Love such as mine have no boundary." Nuriko declared passionately. Strangely, he was getting quite fond of this girl.

"Nuriko, even if it doesn't matter for you, I don't think Hotohori can accept that, even if he is not in love with his wife." Miaka reminded him.2

"Can that…hag really send Miaka home?" Tamahome began to complain again.

"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY!"

At the sudden arrival of Tai Yi-Jun and Chichiri, another celestial warrior of Suzaku, both Miaka and Nuriko laughed nervously and pointed to the culprit.

"Hmph." Tai Yi-Jun snorted but she didn't do anything to Tamahome, who was already prepared for some magical lash. "I can send you back, Priestess of Suzaku."

"That's great!"

"When you come back ," the goddess continued as if uninterrupted by Miaka. "Tell this to the emperor of Konan- Hotohori: he must not forget his duty as a celestial warrior. It is to protect the Suzaku priestess, not his empress."

Hotohori did not come as he could not be away from his kingdom for such a long time. Still, Miaka had left the palace with a grand flourish, the emperor himself kissed her hand while the empress pecked her on the cheek, then the two had watched them leave, their hands joined together.

"So you went and found out why he didn't come, and you saw something that is bothering you instead of just annoying you." Chichiri said.

"Yes," Tai Yi-Jun admitted. "I saw him with his empress in my mirror and something about her worries me. I can not tell what it is but I felt a very strange feeling when I saw her…she seemed out of place."

"As if she didn't belong to our world?"

"I do not know, though I should be able to know if that is the case. Perhaps that is what is worrying me the most. But I know one thing, she is not meant to be the priestess of Suzaku, Miaka is." Realizing that the others were still watching them she coughed and said: "Well, let us began then, shall we?"

* * *

"And closing her eyes the priestess thought of the world which she came from, her family and her dearest friend." Yui continued reading the book eagerly, still wandering where Miaka went in her subconscious.

"And then she appeared…"

'YUI!" within seconds Yui found herself half buried by Miaka, who attached herself onto her so tightly that she was almost being strangled.

"Miaka, what just happened?"

The story was a not a easy one to believe but after all that happened: the blood and water on her uniform, Yuri had to believe Miaka's story.

"And one more thing, Yui, have you heard the name Houki before? It sounds so familiar but I can not recall it."

"Houki? I think I have…oh I remember, you must be thinking about Houki Yuri."

"Houki Yuri?" now that she thought about it Miaka could remember someone telling her that Houki was only the empress' title, not her name. And she could recall an occasion when Hotohori's eyes had rested on a vase of lilies, and he had muttered something about how they were his empress's favourite flowers as they had something to do with her name. Miaka deeply regretted that she did not pay as much attention as she should have.

"So who is Houki Yuri then?"

"Miaka, she is your half sister! Have you forgotten all about her completely?"

At once Miaka remembered and understood everything. Yes, Houki Yuri, that was the name of her half-sister. She remembered first seeing her when she was only five years old. Yuri had been eight years old and even then her hair was done in that pretty way with a single ribbon. As their parents argued, Yuri had turned to them, hoping to find assurance. Sadly, they never gave it to her at all during all these years.

It would be unfair to blame Miaka for not recognizing Yuri immediately as Yuri had moved out of their house when Miaka was only twelve or so. Even before she moved out, they hardly saw her.

Technically she should be about eighteen now, but the people in Konan had told her their empress was twenty years old, and had been married to the emperor for two years.

But why wasn't Yuri glad to see her at all? Why did she avoid her? Most of all, why did she show so much happiness and even relief when Miaka failed to recognize her, instead of some sadness?

Maybe it is because she is angry at us and simply wants to forget all about us now that she have a new life, Miaka reasoned, she never realized that Yuri only ever blamed herself for being unwanted. I must see her, then make amends with her.

"Do you remember her now? I saw her once or twice when I went to your house. I remembered she was all dressed up with a pair of high heels as she was about to go work or something." Yui continued.3

"Yui, I saw her in the book world." Miaka spelt out slowly. "She is married to the emperor there. She had been there for at least two years."

"Maybe it is because time passes differently in the two world. You had been there for such a long time but in here, only two hours passed."

"I…I want to find out more about Yuri. Yui, I don't even know about my sister at all. I want to find out because I will return to that world so I want to be a sister to her!"

* * *

"About Yuri?" Miaka's brother frowned at this. "Why do you want to know about Yuri?"

"Doesn't matter, tell me!" Miaka yelled incoherently, waving her arms energetically.

"She's curious as she thought she saw someone that might have been Yuri when we were in the library." Yui lied smoothly, pushing Miaka aside. After all, the story of: "I ended up in a world in this book and I saw Yuri there, married to one of the characters in the book" was not easily accepted.

"You saw Yuri?" at this outburst from Keisuke the two girls exchanged curious glances.

"Have you been in touch with her secretly, Onichan?" Miaka asked eagerly.

"No, I know as little as you, but a couple of months ago I saw this." After taking a careful glance at the corridor to make sure that their mother was nowhere near, Keisuke pulled out a poster that was bookmarked between the pages of one of his text books.

On that poster was a large photo of Yuri, staring back at them, not smiling, never smiling. On top of the photo was the large red letters of 'Person missing'. Upon seeing the date Miaka gasped, she had only been missed for six months, so there was some sort time difference!

"I saw this stuck up by the police when I was on my way home. I then did some inquiry, even if we rather our father to never have done what he did with her mother, she is still our sister.

"Apparently, Yuri had moved into this rather shabby apartment, and one day she left her apartment and never came back, so said the apartment manager. The police are actually trying to find her, as they think she is kidnapped because she didn't take any of her stuff with her, so she was not preparing to leave or anything."

"Onichan, what was she like, our half sister?"

Keisuke shook his head rather sadly, "I never get to know her much, you know that our mother forbid us to talk to her. The only think I could say for certain is that she always seemed so sad, as she rarely smiled."

At that moment Miaka decided that she would go back and finish her quest, not only for herself but for her mysterious half sister's happiness as well. Although she did not see Yuri much she was sure that Yuri was happy in Konan as she was with Hotohori, whom she loved and was loved by in return, and Hotohori had told her that until six months ago Yuri had been very happy.

* * *

In the palace of Konan, Yuri was taking her last look at Hotohori. Due to the herbs she secretly crushed, he was sleeping very soundly. Was she risking being labelled as a traitor by mixing some of the sleeping draughts the royal physician had gave her in the emperor's tea?

"Why do I fee that you wouldn't be here when I wake up tomorrow?" Hotohori had said strangely, tightening his arms around her even more.

"Don't be so silly, of course I will be here, you must rest as much as you can." she had laughed nervously, tracing his face with her fingers. "I love you so much, you know that."

"So promise me that you wouldn't leave me, then I will sleep."

Kissing him, she nodded, even as she felt tears welling up in her eyes.

I am so sorry to lie to you again, Hotohori, Yuri thought sadly as she watched him smile in content and closed his eyes.

The draught did their jobs quickly, it was almost ironic as she only received them due to Hotohori worrying about her health.

Standing up she quickly dressed herself into the plain peasant's dress that she had on her when she was taken by the guard these two years ago, why did it seem so long now? Dressing in the costume of a serving girl from the taverns was not a wise idea for a woman who planed to travel alone, but that was the simplest dress she had.

Taking the white ribbon that had unwind from Hotohori's hair, she used it to tie her hair in a simple half-pony tail, it might be best for her to change her hair style for a while. Yuri then took her strand of pearls from her dressing table and tucked them into Hotohori's hand so that they would be the first thing he saw, then he would find her letter.

Her other luggage were already packed, all they were was some money, her sword, a dagger and a copy of the sacred book that she had secretly copied. Strangely she decided to take her fan with her although she probably shouldn't.

This would be her repentance, to try and find the rest of the celestial warriors for Hotohori right now, because who knew how long it would take for Miaka to come back with this time difference. And any time that passed until Suzaku came was time she must spend apart from him.4

Closing her eyes she allowed the tears to fall before she walked up to Hotohori and knelt beside him once more.

She kissed him gently and softly, then she turned and took the first step away from him.

"Forgive me, Hotohori." She whispered. "But don't think that I am doing this because I no longer love you, I am leaving because I love you."

* * *

The palace of Konan was very different from what Miaka had remembered, it seemed that everyone was possessed by some sombre spirit. Well, Miaka decided, she would be the one to change it!

"Nuriko, why the long face!" she hugged her friend happily. "Actually why the long face from everyone? Is it because I went away too long?"

"Miaka…Empress Houki is gone." Nuriko said sombrely. "Three months ago, when we were at Tai Yi-Jun's palace, she left the palace."

"That can't be true, you are joking!" Miaka refused to believe that her sister was no longer here after she finally found out about their relationship. She had wanted to tell Yuri about her discovery so much, and she even fantasized about a joyful sisterly reunion!

"Miaka, why would I joke about such things?" Nuriko snapped back. "The whole palace is in a mess partly because most of the servants idolise the empress, while the others are like that because of the emperor."

"What is happening to Hotohori now?" she knew too well how much Hotohori loved his empress…her sister. She recollected how worried he had been when one of his advisors told him that Yuri had fainted, and she remembered the sadness in his voice as he told her that his ultimate desire was to make Yuri happy.

"The emperor… he is not doing well." And that statement might be described as the understatement of the century.

* * *

Hotohori was kneeling in Yuri's chambers again, the strand of her pearls constantly in his hands almost like a rosary, and he would often reread the letter she had wrote. His hair was no longer so carefully tied up for court, and although he was still dressed regally as befitted of a man in his status, it was clear that he no longer cared that much about how he appeared.5

"Yuri…why?" he whispered again, feeling tears falling down again.

He still did his duty but his sadness was so deep that it pained his subjects to even look at him, because they all knew that he did not wish to be here, however hard he tried to conceal it.

His mornings were still taken up by the court, and due to the recent problems with Kutou the business of the state often extended to the afternoon. But he would either spent his free time here, in her room, or in front of the statue of Suzaku, with her as the subject of his prayers once more.

The night was the worst part of the whole day. He could not bear to sleep on the bed in her chamber as he had done almost every night for the past two years, as she was no longer there. But his empty bed was equally bad, he would recall all these lonely days once more, and there had been times when she laid with him here, so it was still a reminder. Before, he had been so happy when she slept there, because she was creating happy memories for him, but now, the loneliness was attacking him again.

"Hotohori…"

"Miaka?" he could no longer view her in the same way again after what Yuri had told him in her letter. But she was so different from Yuri, even if they were just half sisters.

"I heard about how Empress Houki…"

"You know her real first name, Miaka." he showed Miaka Yuri's letter to him. "Yuri left me this letter, in it she told me that you are her half sister. Listen to this and listen carefully, because I will not repeat what you missed." Taking a deep breath Hotohori began to read the letter, though out this his free hand was tightly clenched and he was shaking slightly.6

Waking up in the morning, he was deeply shocked when he discovered that she was no longer in his arms. At first he thought she might be praying in front of Suzaku, but then he felt the pearls she put in her hands: it was like a parting gift.

He soon found the letter…upon reading it he started to weep and found himself unable to stop, even when he heard the distant uproar at the absence of the emperor at court.

He did not know how he actually managed to attend court that day without a very obvious breaking down, all the others' words were suppressed by what Yuri had say to him the previous night: that she would not leave him.

"Hotohori," he began, his voice the lightest whisper, "I love you, always remember that. All that I am doing, I am doing because I love you, not because I no longer love you.

"By the time you read this letter I would be gone, and probably some distance from the city now. Do not try to find me Hotohori, because that is not what I want.

"I must tell you the truth, what I hide for the past two years. I told you that I am a stranger in your country, that is true, but I failed to tell you that I am also foreign to your world. I am from another world, so I might have been able to call out Suzaku.

"But I did not want to because I wanted to be with you. It was selfish I know, because my death would have spared all this worrying about wars but I wanted to marry you, so that is why I never told you of my true origin.7

"I was so happy just by being with you, because I love you so much, and know that you will always love me. Even when others started to whisper that I was barren, I was still rather happy just by being beside you. I love you even more when you refused to elect another concubine although you would not be wrong to do so.

"Then Miaka came…I know you wander why I was so hostile to her. That is because Miaka might know who I am. I told you that I was the result of an affair, Miaka is my father's legitimate daughter, whom I lived with in the same house for a few years upon my mother's death. I refused to see her as I feared that she would recognize me, and in doing so you would find out that I am actually from that world.

"That was why I was so happy when Miaka asked who I was, but Hotohori, when she was sick she remembered her shadowy half-sister. I cannot bear to see your face when you discovers my secret. To see you hating me, I rather die.

"I think I am being punished for being so selfish, so I want to repent myself somehow. Perhaps I owe a duty to everyone in Konan too, but I am still selfish because beloved, I am only doing this because of you. I will go and try to find the celestial warriors, and maybe I can make things easier for you somehow, and let Suzaku be summoned faster.8

"Hotohori, I cannot ease this guilt I have until Suzaku is summoned, then I will go back to you if you want me to. I am sorry for breaking my promise to you but then, you had broken yours too, although it is not your fault at all.

"I love you.

"Please forgive me."

There was nothing Miaka could do but to walk up to Hotohori and hug him, hoping to offer him some support through this gesture, even though it was his sister that he desired to embrace.

"Yuri, you stupid girl, you did nothing wrong." Hotohori whispered brokenly, his voice muffled by the tears that always appeared when he read that letter. "I would never have forced you to be the priestess of Suzaku if the price is to lose you! You are the most important thing to me, you are first, Konan is second! I told you that I would never let my kingdom take me away from you permanently so why this…

"What am I suppose to do now? What do I do when you are not here beside me? How can I continue…"

"I am so sorry Hotohori, you love my sister so much and…"

"Perhaps too much for a man in my position, but then with her I am Hotohori, not only the Emperor Saihi. I truly wish that I am just a simple man, so I can be with Yuri as much as I want, and give her the attention she deserves. But yet I was content with my current life because by being there, Yuri made me happy, as she made my life the best as it could be. I could go through my days more easily because there was the knowledge that I would be with her eventually. I…how do I explain this?9

"Until I met Yuri I was alone because I am an emperor. I…my father died when I was fourteen, and my mother made me the emperor as my father never chose which one of his sons should succeed so they naturally asked his queen. My mother made me the new emperor although I wasn't even the eldest son of neither my father or her.10

"I never wander why though, it was because I was more easy to manipulate. I was a more willing puppet then either of my elder brothers. My elder brother was three years older and he was filled with many radical ideas, he was also so much more strong willed then me.

"Then there was my other elder brother, one of my half brothers. He was the oldest out of all my father's children, six years older then me, yet his mother was only a concubine. I think my mother did not consider him as a candidate, as all his life he was deeply resentful of my brother and I, for being borne from the empress.

"Not that it mattered much, my mother being the main consort instead of the side one, as my father did not favour any of his children. He was always too occupied with the business of the state to bother about his children.

"So I became the Emperor…and Konan broke into a civil war, my two elder brothers both lead a rebellion against me, each supported by one of my other half brothers. My mother was harsh and even cruel in crushing the resistance.

"The strings that tied around me were cut with the death of my mother, but the puppet fell into a cage. I was surrounded by a permanent silence even though I was constantly surrounded by people. It is such a strange feeling, to be lonely even if I am always with people. 11

"I think it is because I was always apart from everyone else by being the emperor. To everyone I was only an object instead of a person, reverence and respect being the barrier that separated me from everyone else.

"Then I saw Yuri and I loved her the moment I saw her, although I could not explain why I immediately wanted her to be my empress." At this memory Hotohori smiled slightly. "She thought that I was crazy for wanting to marry her after I just met her.

"The more time I spent with her the more I love her. I ended up so happy whenever I was with her because she made me stop feeling lonely. When she told me she love me I was so happy because for the first time in my life I was special to some one as a normal man, not as the emperor.12

"That is why," Hotohori chocked out, now grabbing Miaka's hand very firmly. "I am begging you to find the rest of the celestial warriors and summon Suzaku as fast as you can.

"I go down on my knees, Miaka, to beseech this of you. I am not just begging you as an emperor on behalf of his kingdom, but also as a man for the sake of the return of the one he need and love the best."

Miaka's eyes were filled with tears too, she crouched down so she could be on eye level with Hotohori, before she nodded.

* * *

1 As I said in the front, this story is focusing on Hotohori and Yuri so the rests' part will get diluted. Miaka, Nuriko and Tamahome managed to travel to Tai Yi-Jun's place without that much trouble and she didn't test them with the mirror. And Hotohori didn't go with them, that should be alright cause I'm sure they never said all the celestial warriors had to be there.

2 It's so weird having to describe Nuriko using the masculine version. Any way that is a point I think most of us have thought about, the fact that it is not just Nuriko not minding about her gender.

3 Yui started working at a rather young age.

4 This is not Yuri's purpose, I thought I'll clarify this now in case some people think that Yuri is sent to the book world for this sake. She is not sent into the book for the sake of finding the celestial warriors during the period of Miaka's absence. Her real purpose will be discovered a few chapters later.

5 Considering how vain he is this should be quite a clear sign of him being very upset at what happened. Actually, in this is not the first time I used his vanity so show his love for Yuri. Yuri is pretty and rather beautiful but most people would still regard her as rather normal. But Hotohori regards her as very beautiful, even more beautiful then him because he loved her so much. It was love at first sight!

6 Gosh, Hotohori sounds a bit cold doesn't he? But given what happened it is probably reasonable. Reading that letter out aloud will defiantly be harder then just reading it silently. Eek, I do feel much better but spending about two hours typing this up is probably not a good idea, it's like half past one in the morning.

7 I think the reason Yuri feels such a strong guilt and really believed in the concept of the greater good is partly due to the fact that as a child, she would have been constantly reminded that her presence is a blight to her father's family, and been accused of ruining the family's happiness by Miaka's mother. I mean, I'm not trying to make Miaka's mother a villain because I think her blaming Yuri a lot will be very logical and even understanding, to find out that your husband had an affair and then having to have the result of the affair living in your house with you children, and even worse, to still house her when your husband left. In fact the last action is rather admirable, as she is under no obligation of keeping Yuri in her house.

The other reason of why Yuri have such a strong guilt complex, I think, is because she is the consort to an emperor, so she would be constantly witnessing the idea of the greater good, acting for your people instead of doing what you want. Also, she will be constantly reminded of this by Hotohori's advisors when she failed to show signs of pregnancy.

8 I know that technically only the Suzaku priestess can find the celestial warriors but in a way Yuri is not breaking the rule, she will find them but ultimately they only joined the rest when Miaka found them. So I guess what Yuri will be doing is persuasion and making the path a bit easier, but it is still Miaka who must travels the path. Ah…you guys will see what happens in the next chapter.

9 Saihitei is his title in japaness and since I called Yuri the empress Houki it will be pretty inconsistent to call him Saihitei when I am not calling Yuri Houkigou. According to the online translation tei is a way of writing emperor so Saihi must be his tittle. Even though it is really weird, occasionally I will describe Hotohori as Emperor Saihi.

10 I got these information from winkepaedia and I am not sure whether they are fully accurate because I had no idea where that person got these information from but this is what they said about Hotohori's family. He had two half younger sisters, and three half brothers (Ogi, Bogyoku and Kotsuki) and an elder brother named Shu Tendo. I think that in ancient China the eldest son does not always became the heir, even though he usually will be the heir. There were many cases when emperors would not tell anyone who the heir is, and the people would 0only discover the information hidden somewhere after the emperor's death, I think the Qing dynasty tended to do that, but I am not that sure. I can remember reading this story when I was little about how a emperor in the Qing dynasty wrote on this paper that his fourteenth son should be the heir, but the forth son took the paper and changed it so he became the heir. Since Hotohori is not the eldest either way I thought there must be some sort of semi conspiracy going on as he ended up being the emperor. I guess I'm giving my random version. Although it seemed that he was the heir all along in the manga as they called him the title they use for the heir.

11 I really love what Hotohori said in regard to his loneliness because he said it in such a beautiful way so that is why I want to make this bit really good. I admit that I am biased but I am really moved by him in that bit of the manga/anime.

12 Random author's comment: I really liked writing this part because my fan fiction allows me to twist the story, as I always feel so so so sad when I read the bit when a young Hotohori thought about the Suzaku priestess as someone who would love him for him who he is, not what he is. It is so sad that his hope and dream did not come true.

* * *

_**Author's Note: Another chapter done! I got so excited that I am finally free for a few weeks, having done my last exam I just spent the night typing this up. Well, the next chapter should be interesting. Yuri is meeting Taisuki and it's a chance of twisting what happens in the manga. By the way, please review (pleading eyes), as reviews are such a big motivator for me! So please give me some reviews! I feel really happy when I get a review as it shows there are at least some people being interested in what I write, so please review after you read this!**_


	5. Chapter Four

**_Author's Note: Once again I hope some one will enjoy this story and please leave a review! When I logged in I saw that Hidden Secrets is on the alert list for two people and that made me really really happy, but I still want reviews! _**

_**I found out about the Fushigi Yugi gaiden (novel) recently and I just immediately went to read Hotohori's one as soon as I could once I found a site with translations. Reading it is certainly interesting as it answered many unasked questions. Now I know where all these information about him were obtained from. I like it but not as much as I expected. I don't really know why, but I think it might just be the story's style didn't hit off with me that well, and my main reason of complaint is that I felt there was way to much action, and not enough time with what the characters were thinking.**_

**_In conclusion, I definitely like the manga so much more, and in a strange way I didn't mind that much when they didn't explain everything to great detail as it kind of leave room for your own imagination. But I will say that the novel on Hotohori is definitely worth reading, although it left me feeling very sad and almost rather depressed. Words of warning: don't read it if you just had a bad day, which was what happened to me. I had a bad day at work and reading such a tragic story didn't exactly cheer me up. _**

* * *

The clue was like the last one, there was only two characters: the first was "mountain" while the next one was "leader". Yuri was sure that it meant the person was a leader of a gang of mountain bandits.1

"What do I do about that?" she had muttered, looking at the mountain that housed the most infamous bandit gang of Konan. "I know a bit of fencing but I am not good enough to face an entire gang of mountain bandits on my own."

She already found one other celestial warrior: Chiriko. Following the instruction on the scroll she found the young boy in Eiyo very easily. She hoped that he really did go to the palace immediately.2

The next celestial warrior, however, was not going to be found in such a trouble-free way.

Unfortunately for Yuri, she was not careful enough as the inn she went in, which seemed rather far from the mountain the bandits were rumour to reside in. She thought it was safe.

Being both young and beautiful, she naturally ended up as a target for the bandits who ran the inn, and even better- she was alone.

She was broken free from her reveries when the harsh feeling of steel touched her flesh from the back of her neck.

"You are very careful, I will admit that, but you still walked into our den, leaving this pretty body at our mercy." The owner of the sword whispered suggestively to her, as he edged closer.

Having no other choice but to cooperate she watched them taking her sword away, and then binding her arms together. Her only consol was that she had a dagger tucked in the very dept of her bodice.

Her sole hope was that she was at the right place, because if the leader was a celestial warrior, then he could not be a bad man. Perhaps he would forbid his men from doing anything to her.3

"The more I see you the more beautiful you become." One of the bandits remarked out, placing his hand on her shoulder. "Seems such a waste to let our leader ruin you."

"And you wouldn't?" she said coolly. Having spent a week working in a tavern that was occasionally mistaken for a brothel, she learnt a little of how to handle these type of men.

"We'll treat you nicely, unlike that man." Another spat out, but his anger was not directed at her, but their current leader. "We are not rapists. Although if you do desire any one of us…we will be very happy to oblige. I do agree though," he went back to talk with his two other companions. "Why don't we keep her to our self? It is not as he would find out, since he's always at his own quarters…"4

"Waiting for us to bring back what we gained through our own hard work. Yes, let us keep her for a while."

Yuri was more confused about what she just heard then to worry about herself now, such a man as they described, did not sound like a Celestial warrior who was chosen by Suzaku.

Much to her surprise the three mountain bandits who caught her did not take her to their leader, but to their own gathering room. They were even rather kind as they warned her to be careful.

"Never ever venture out of here. Hide in this cabin whenever anyone enters," they warned her severely, but not harshly. "we cannot help you if you are discovered, so make sure that no one else sees you here."

They were giving advise to their captive? Yuri thought in sheer disbelieve, if they didn't take her sword away then she would actually start to question whether she really was in the base of a bunch of bandits.

Looking at them she smiled very softly and sweetly, keeping her smile as innocent as she could.

"Thank you all for protecting me."

"Well you can reward us by serving us."

With a careless shrug Yuri picked up the jug of wine and went to pour wine for them. The task itself did not bother her at all, as that was what she used to do before she was selected go into the palace. Her only worry was when these men would eventually get tired of this, or when she would be discovered.

Right now she detected desire and lust in some of them, but she did see not any hint of great malice in their eyes.

Above all there was the most important question of whether she was at the right place.

"You really are quite beautiful." One of the man remarked out, his hands 'accidentally' resting on her leg.

Automatically she slapped him hard.

"I am already married." She said, although she strongly doubted that this particular piece information could protect her. Even if she announced herself as their empress, they probably wouldn't believe her anyway.

"So where is your husband then? They said you were travelling alone."

"That is not your business." She changed her voice so that it sounded as angelical as it could possible become, she could not afford to anger them right now.

"Running away from your husband then? We can look after you much better then any men from the city. Such a pity," another mountain bandit grabbed her hands. "For such a flower to be planted into a marriage with a worthless man."

Yuri jerked her hands out of his grip and went to pour the glass of the next man, forcing herself to not spring into Hotohori's defence or striking them again for this insult.

Taking a deep breath she asked: "Do you people only have one leader?"

"Just one, although he shouldn't even be the leader." the man she was serving muttered.

At this she quickly crouched beside him, her eyes large and pleading.

"What happened? Can you tell me, it sounds interesting!" secretly, she was cursing the fact that she had to flatter and even flirt with these bandits in order to obtain the information. If only Hotohori was here…

The though made her smiled slightly, his first instinct would probably be to order their execution for daring to touch her like that.

The story of the past leader and the one he choose to be his heir made her frown, could it be that the man who was meant to be the leader, was the one she was seeking?

She could ask more directly but the sentence: "Is there a man among you with a word on any part of his body?" was not exactly the most normal method of starting a conversation.

For now she would play along, and plans what to do during the process.

"Does any of you…" she began but was interrupted by the loud sound of the door being thrown open. She made a quick move to hide in the cabin but it was too late.

"You lot are certainly brave." One of the 'intruders' said, his voice mocking. "To keep such a price to yourself, our leader will not be pleased at this."5

"She is only a local whore that we hired!" one of them said in what Yuri could only describe as a valiant attempt of rescue.

"Then if she is foolish enough to perform her trade here, she must pay the price by providing us all with additional services." The same man said coldly, jerking Yuri up. "I think he will enjoy you, you are a bit old but I think your face will still please him."

She would have spat into his face if it wasn't for the fear of him doing something to her right now, as this group of men would not hesitate in harming her.

But unknown to Yuri, the day she came, was also the night that Taisuki returned.6

* * *

Taisuki glanced at his surroundings carefully before he snorted, so that was what happened during his absence. Well, that man was certainly brave in the foolish way to think that he would just watch and let him tramp over him. No, Taisuki was going to take back the position of their leader.

He'd have to think of a way to get the fan back though, then he could worked out punishments for the rest leisurely.

He peered into the window in the vain attempt of spotting the fan, he really preferred to do this without bloodshed if he could as most of these men were like his brothers.

As usual 'he' was just sitting there, waiting for gifts to be placed on his lap, that man was really shameless. Taisuki had always been surprised that the formal leader actually kept him in the group.

Koji was at the room as well, being told to do something. After knowing his friend for such a long time Taisuki could see the great disgust present on Koji's face.

A young woman was brought in to the room, surprisingly her hand were unbound, although they were tightly held by the two beside her. At the sight of these two men, Taisuke frowned again, it shouldn't surprise him that they would support that usurper instead.

Every one quickly left, so that the young woman was alone in the room with the current leader…

* * *

At the sight of the current leader of the bandits, Yuri felt nothing but disgust. Great as her eagerness to find the celestial warriors as it was, she still deeply hoped that this man was not one of them.

As he approached her, she carefully began to raise her hand until it rested on her bodice.

She pulled out the hidden dagger and slashed it as the bandit's hand almost touched her breasts.

Outside, Taisuki sighed, he was convinced that he was jinxed, as every women he met would turn out to be like one of his maniacal sisters.

Still, she could be of use to him.

"Do not think of touching me," Yuri hissed, spelling out every word, brandishing the dagger in front of her. "If you dare to touch me then I will make sure that you get executed."

As soon as she said this Yuri laughed at herself, she was acting as if she was still the empress in the palace of Konan. She must forget all about that, as she had left Hotohori.

At this threat Taisuki snorted again, just who did this woman think she was? The empress? At any rate it was time for him to interfere.

"Well, a lot of things certainly happened during my trip." Taisuki laughed out as he jumped in from the window, "You actually think that you can become the leader?"

"Are you the man who is meant to be the leader?" Yuri asked, even though her gaze was still focused on the current bandit leader.

"I am." Taisuke said proudly.

"Are you the one with the word on you? Because I do not believe it will be on him," the mere fact that she referred to the other man with such distaste raised Taisuke's liking of her greatly.

He would have answered her if it wasn't for the fact that the other was reaching for the iron fan.

"DUCK!" he yelled at her.

Even with that warning, Yuri barely managed to dodge the flame that appeared from the fan.

"What is that?" she yelled in shock.

Her eyes lit up slightly as she saw a sword lying on the table, carefully crawling beneath the fire, she grabbed it.

Meanwhile Taisuke threw out his offudas, summoning wolves to his aid, and by this time a large group of other bandits had come as well, and Koji was there too. Taisuke and Yuri took a glance at the other and nodded simultaneously, even though they were complete strangers they would work together due a mutual goal.

This was the first time Yuri actually really fought with someone. It was naturally harder then the practises she did in the comfort of the palace, but still, she managed to defend herself tolerably well.

Soon she had the man at the tip of her sword, having no another choice but to kill him as she knew what he would willingly do to her if he had the opportunity. Her hands started to shake at the mere thought of her committing the deed but she still forced them to thrust the sword in.7

She should not be shaking as she was not safe yet, there were others who would attack her for the killing of that man, even if he was the usurper. But what she just done was too much for her, she slid onto the ground, her sword clattering down.

"Why do you follow that man just because he had the fan?" Koji was yelling loudly, hoping the death that just occurred would be the only death tonight. "You all know that Genro was meant to be the leader! He would have been a good leader too. Like our last leader, he would be fair!"

Some murmured in agreement and many actually purposely stepped back, but there was still that group of loyal supporters who wanted revenge. As one of them approached, Taisuke, who was trying to take hold of the fan, accidentally slid and the stack of offudas fell out.

"Write something on it!" he yelled to Yuri, who managed to grab them despite her shocked state. "Then throw it and that object will appear."

At the moment Yuri's mind went completely blank, what should she write on it? Sensing that someone was approaching her she wrote the first two characters that came into her mind, the two characters that she first wrote in Konan.

Hotohori's name.

Chuckling, the bandit raised his sword at Yuri, who was barely focused due to what she just done, she felt as if her hands were stained forever.

Yet someone met the attack with her sword for her.

"Hotohori?" she chocked out.

Her beloved husband smiled gently at her and caressed her fingers lovingly as he always did whenever they practised swordplay together. Then he turned to the rest, his eyes hard.

"I will not forgive any one that dares to hurt her!" he announced coldly before he launched his attack.

She watched him fight for her in wander, and marvelled at the magic in the offudas. Even though it was only an illusion it seemed like the real Hotohori who taught her how to use a sword. Whenever he do so, his hair would always be down and tied with a ribbon, and he would put on very plain clothing.

Like the illusionary figure in front of her.

"Hotohori," she whispered again.

Turning to him after he finished, he held out his hand, still smiling at her. With her tears falling she grabbed it tightly.

It did not last long though…soon her hand closed over the empty air, and the piece of paper fell down. Kneeling down she clutched the paper to her, because she could no longer hold him.8

For a long time she simply cling onto that piece of paper, unaware of the arrangements behind her.

"Hey," the weight of a hand on her shoulder made her grab her sword and whirl around to face the man.

"Hey, I only want to thank you." Taisuke said, raising his hands in the air innocently along with the metal fan. "I probably wouldn't have got this back without your help."

"Taisuke…" Yuri whispered, pointing to the word on his arm, visible as his sleeves had slid down when he raised his hands. "So you are Taisuke."

"Are you the priestess?" he asked sharply, as who else would be searching for the seven celestial warriors?

Yuri shook her head. "I am merely searching for the warriors on behalf of the priestess, as she will not be able to come here until sometime later. I am…" she was sure that these people would not know the real name of their emperor. "I am the wife of one of the seven celestial warriors: the one named Hotohori, whom you just saw."

"What do you want then?"

"I wish to find the warriors so Suzaku would be summoned faster. Then I might be able to be with Hotohori again. If you want to thank me," Yuri said firmly, "Then go to the capital and find the priestess."

Looking into her eyes Taisuke saw a mixture of wild, strong and contradictory emotions. There was despair and yet there also happiness, her emotions were so strong that he felt it impossible to refuse, yet he could not agree either, now that he was with all of his brothers in arms again.

"I cannot just leave yet." He finally decided, "But I will go with the priestess when she come here."

In front of him Yuri chuckled, but there were no mirth in her laughter. "It seems that it is not possible for me to do this after all. The celestial warriors are meant to be gathered by the priestess herself."

But surely I did something that helped Miaka. Yuri thought, she was almost forcing herself to come up with evidence.

"If you wish to leave and continue your search then Koji will escort you to the next town." Taisuke said.

"I will leave now." Yuri stated without any hesitation. "I have done all that I can. I only beg you, go to the Suzaku priestess as soon as you can."

"Wait, what is your name?" Taisuke demanded. "When I see her I want to…"

"My name?" Yuri paused a bit as she debated whether she should tell them her last name, in the ended she decided against it, as it had become her title. "My name is Yuri."

She then collected her luggage but she did not even bother to cheek whether everything was still in there, although they all were, as her gaze still rested on the piece of offuda with Hotohori's name on it.9

* * *

Hotohori was looking at the strand of pearls again. He knew it was very unreasonable but he had ordered his advisors to give him a whole day of freedom.

Then he would be tangled with all these problems again. Konan would be at war soon from Kotou, it was inevitable. There was really nothing more to discuss as all the preparations were undergone, but he would still have to sit through these meetings.

Even worse, the sacred book of the four universe was stolen. Hotohori knew that it was not really Miaka's fault but he couldn't help but to blame her a little. If only she had held onto it before she ran away.

Last night was the eve of Miaka's departure with Nuriko, Tamahome and Chichiri, as Miaka was packing the sacred book into her bag she was attacked by an assassin sent from Kotou.

As he charged at her with a sword she ran out of the room screaming, after a brief fight with the remaining celestial warriors in the room, the assassin decided to take the book instead.10

"How will Suzaku be called without the book?" Hotohori sighed deeply. "And how dare I blame her? It is not even her fault. Maybe that is why Yuri left."

"You certainly look as if you are in pain, your majesty."

"Chichiri, are you not with Miaka?"

"I rather have my question answered first, your majesty, if that is not too rude a request."

"Very well, I am in pain. Yuri is gone and I don't know how to carry on without her. Most importantly, who knows what danger she might be in? And the worse bit is that she is doing this all because of me."

"If you could…you would travel with Miaka, as you believe that you might be able to find the Empress Houki during the journey."

The young emperor nodded rather sadly, "I should not even be thinking about Yuri in such a time but I am a human being as well. I love her, so I cannot help but to worry about her. Because I am only a human, I cling onto that vain hope of finding Yuri if I leave the palace and travel with Miaka."

"Then let me be in your majesty's place while you travel with Miaka." Hotohori didn't even have time to react when he was suddenly faced with a clone of himself.

"You know that there wouldn't be any major event that would happen that hasn't already happened, so it will be alright for you to travel with Miaka if you have a replacement who can do the basic stuff." Chichiri continued, only he was now speaking with Hotohori's voice.

"Chi…Chichiri…" Hotohori was truly at a loss for words. He was shocked at the power of Chichiri's magic as it allowed him to transform completely, and he was also suddenly so happy as there was a possibility of him finding Yuri.

Faint as the hope was, he would cling onto it tightly.

Just as he was about to leave he suddenly noticed something.

"Chichiri…maybe you should adjust your transformation slightly as I don't think you got every aspect accurate."

At this comment Chichiri laughed, it was not due to the almost childish nature of the comment, but because it was a sign that Hotohori's mood was improving slightly, as the younger man was noticing his appearance again.11

* * *

Meanwhile, Tamahome and Nuriko were both fighting in order to protect Miaka, who was crouching on the ground, clearly in pain.12

"Tamahome, take her and get out of here!" Nuriko yelled, chuckling a table to one of the bandits.

"I was just going to suggest that to you!" Tamahome snapped.

"Why do I have to be the one that runs away?" Nuriko protested but stopped as he saw another bandit approaching Miaka with a raising axe.

"MIAKA!" the two man yelled.

Stunned and frightened, Miaka found herself rooted to the ground although she knew she should try to run away.

A body fell down, covered by blood, but it was not Miaka…it was that bandit.

"Hotohori?" the three all chocked out at the sight of Hotohori, who was at the doorway, panting slightly with his sword drawn, the tip stained with blood.

"Yes, I am here instead of Chichiri." Hotohori said, still holding his sword, as the fight was not over yet. There was still at least two other men.

"Stop!" the wounded man commanded to his two companions, pointing to Hotohori. "I think he is that man!"13

"That man?" Hotohori said as calmly as he could, surely it was not possible for these bandits to recognize him.

"He does look a bit like him, maybe we should bring them to Genro…" he had barely finished his sentence before Hotohori's sword appeared right in front of him.

"You will tell me everything that you know if you wish to live," Hotohori said chillingly. During the discussion, Nuriko had quickly knock out the other unwounded man with a single punch, while Tamahome tied the wounded man up.

"A month or so ago a young woman named Yuri arrived here, since she was rather pretty we decided to take her to our head quarters…"

At this Hotohori thrust his sword even further, almost piercing it into the other's throat.

"If you hurt her in anyway, I will kill you myself." He hissed. Even though he wasn't even sure that the mysterious young woman was Yuri, the mere thought of her being harmed made him angry.

"We didn't harm her at all! I swear!" the bandit screamed, on the verge of kneeling down and grovelling for mercy.

Half stuttering, he told them what had happened.

"So that is why you recognize me." Hotohori nodded slowly, finally sheathing his sword. "Will you take us to your leader then?"

"Hotohori, we can't go yet." Nuriko whispered, tapping on Hotohori's shoulder in what he hoped to be a rather discreet fashion. "Miaka is…"

"Miaka? Miaka!" Hotohori quickly crouched down beside the Suzaku priestess as he finally noticed her situation. "What happened to her?"

"She ate their poisoned food!"

"You lot…" Hotohori turned to the bandits again angrily, but it was clear that his anger right now was not the same fury he felt when he heard about Yuri's capture.

"'He must not forget his duty as a celestial warrior. It is to protect the Suzaku priestess, not his empress.'" Tamahome suddenly quoted Tai Yi-Jun's words. None of them could bear to tell him these words when they arrived back at the palace of Konan, as Hotohori had been in a deep depression due to Yuri's departure. Although he still was obviously sad at Yuri's absence, Tamahome felt that he must tell that to the emperor now.

"And would you be able to do the same if Yuri was the priestess instead of Miaka?" Hotohori snapped back. At this the other man had to lower his gaze first, because the emperor was right: he could not.

"We didn't put anything in the food!" the bandits protested.

"Really?" Nuriko snorted, raising his fist threateningly. "Explain Miaka's condition then…"

"My stomach hurt…I know I shouldn't have eat that much. Tamahome…can you give me a glass of water?" Miaka whispered weakly.

Both Nuriko and Tamahome had to restrain themselves from punching or slapping Miaka while Hotohori marvelled at the difference of the two half-sister's once again.

* * *

1 I figured that if they still had the scroll then it would probably say mountain as that was the word that appeared in the orb/mirror. As for the leader bit I just made it up myself.

2 Eiyo is the capital of Konan. Although Yuri found Chiriko now, he actually didn't go to the palace immediately, so that bit is not going to be changed that much.

3 Seems that this theory is not applicable to all the Kotou warriors, but all the Konan celestial warriors are really good men, so Yuri's theory is pretty accurate.

4 I really don't think that these mountain bandits are bad men, with the exception of their leader, who was going to rape Miaka. Considering that all the other bandits only made Nuriko and Hotohori drink with them, and they even expressed sympathy for Miaka, I think they are actually quite good people. So I hope I didn't make their actions in regard to Yuri a bit too' idealistic'.

5 This is one of the men who really supported their new leader, not Koji. I just can't find what the name of their leader is (my version of the manga is in Chinese) so I'll just be referring to the usurper as him, that man etc.

6 I know Taisuki is also called Genro but I'll be calling him Taisuki most of the time, in the same way that I'm calling every one else by their name as a warrior, with the exception of the bandits who would call him by his original name of Genro.

7 Yes, Yuri actually killed a man. I warned you guys in the beginning, this story is going for the more serious path. It is not comical. I have to admit though, I didn't like the mountain bandit part that much in regard to Miaka, as what she did was truly stupid. Just charging up to grab the fan.

8 Kind of different from what I had originally planned. Taisuki was to have taken Yuri as hostage and once he arrived at his secret hideout, he attempted to do what he did with Miaka (let us not think about whether he really would have done what he appeared to want to do). Yuri would then threatened to have him executed if he dared to touch her. (Which caused some humorous scenes when he found out that Yuri was the empress.) But I like the result, I don't want to do a fan fiction that is from the book word by word. And I have to admit, I thoroughly enjoyed making Yuri and Hotohori the central characters with the offuda incident instead of Miaka and Tamahome. I really love what Hotohori said, and did in the whole bandit bit, especially in the anime as Takehito Koyasu voiced Hotohori and he is my favourite voice actor. The way he put all these emotions in as he voiced Hotohori was just so good!

9 I hope it make sense now. Taisuke would only join the rest when he sees Miaka, but Yuri made it easier for Miaka as Miaka would not have to deal with the leader.

10 Since Yui is not in this world how else am I going to make the sacred book lost? It has to be lost, because the first attempt of calling Suzaku won't work, so this is the best explanation I can come up with.

11 I have to say, I agree with what Miaka said in volume one: If Hotohori was not such a narcissist then he would be rather perfect.

12 Since Yui isn't here, Tamahome will be traveling with Miaka and co. I won't be focusing on them much but still, I'll try to make it interesting.

13 I am sure in the original story Hotohori killed them, but I am changing that to seriously wounded as otherwise they would have some problems with Taisuki later on

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* * *

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**_Author's Note: the end of chapter four. This chapter mainly consists of Yuri so I hope everyone still like it. As always, please review! Hotohori and the rest went to see Taisuke and he left with them after making arrangements etc etc. In the next chapter Mitsukake will be coming out but I don't really know what will be happening yet myself. However, please still keep reading, as in the next next chapter things will get interesting (more accurately, I want to make it interesting) and even more different. So please continue reading!_**

_**By the way, should I stop my random commenting? Because I realize I do that a lot, am I doing it too much? Is this starting to annoy you guys, do you want me to stop?**_


	6. Chapter Five

**_Author's Note: As always a big thanks to all the people who reviewed my story, it just made me so happy! I also had a look at my stats and I was truly shocked that Hidden Secrets ended up on three people's list of story alert, and become one person's favourite story. It really made me so happy and I have this great motivation to continue. And I'm glad that people don't mind my random comments that much. So I will still be making these comments._**

_**I have to say though, I really have no idea about how Yuri's meeting with Mitsukake will turn out, I'm jus typing it up and hope for the best, because every other part of my story is planned but not this. Any way, please enjoy.

* * *

**_

The town became completely isolated due to the appearance of a swift and deadly fever that was affecting almost every second person. News had spread quickly, and the town ended up being quarantined, people were prevented from leaving the town. That was why the guard on duty that day was very shocked when a young woman arrived and wanted to enter.

"Lady," the guard at the gate said bluntly, "If you enter here you will risk being affected with the fever and die. You will not able to get out until at least two weeks later, after we shut you in a cottage to make sure that you are not affected with the fever."

"I know that, but I must go in." Yuri said with equal determination. "I must find the legendary healer who is in this town."

"There is no such a man!" the man said bitterly. "There is no such a man in this town, for our dead are accumulating each day, and no man possesses the power to heal them."

"I know he is in here somewhere." Yuri said firmly. "I will go in."

"Then you walk to your own death."

Yuri spent the entire day visiting every doctor in the town, hoping to find Mitsukake, the last celestial warrior left. By this time she already heard about how Chichiri had been found by Miaka.

"I will find Mitsukake, and then Suzaku will be summoned and I will be able to go back to Hotohori." She whispered fiercely after another disappointing visit. She used the excuse of having a loved one sick with the fever to speak to these doctors. According to the scroll Mitsukake was able to heal the ill with his special powers.

"Lady, I do not have the power to heal this fever, but perhaps you can try to go to Ju-An, he used to be a doctor of quite some repute until he stopped his practises a year ago. I think if any men can cure a person with the fever, then it will be him."

Yuri nodded. By this time it was already night time but she wanted to find Mitsukake as soon as possible. When she stepped out onto the streets she felt her vision blurred slightly but dismissed it as tiredness, after all, she had been travelling a lot.

If that man was Mitsukake then…

By the time she reached Ju-An's cottage her whole body seemed to be so weak, as she could barely stand. Yuri frowned as she knocked on the door eagerly, was she really that tired? More then ever she missed Hotohori, despite being the ruler of a vast kingdom he still had time to look after her.

Yuri smiled as she recollected an incident that happened at the very beginning of their marriage, when she was still unadjusted to her royal status. She had been waiting for Hotohori in her garden with only an underdress on, although it resembled one of the finer outer dress that she had in her old world. Upon seeing her wearing only that, Hotohori had immediately took off his own robe to put it on her, chiding her for risking being ill as he did so.

"What will I do if you die due a chill from the wind?" he had muttered, holding her tightly against him. "Do not disappear after I finally found you."

Her smile was lost as she recollected his words, no doubt she was making him undergoing a deep pain due to her absence, especially after she promised him that she would not leave him.

"I am so sorry, Hotohori, but I cannot face you right now." She whispered.

The door opened…was the door opened? Every thing seemed so dark, this darkness was getting too unnatural.

"I am not a doctor anymore." Mitsukake said rather coldly, "So…"

As he made a move to close the door, Yuri suddenly saw the red word flashing. It was only for an instant and due to her failing eye sight, she could not see the word clearly. But for that short amount of time a word had appeared on his left hand, and even though she did not have time to read it, she knew what the word must be.

It was the last thing she saw.

"You are Mitsukake." She grabbed the man's left hand even though her body started to shake. She suddenly understood why her body reacted like this: she had caught the fever. "Please, go to Eiyo and find the Suzaku priestess in the palace. For Konan's sake…for Hotohori's sake…Suzaku must be called out."

Her words stunned Mitsukake, it was because she was not asking for him to save her even though she must know that she was going to die. He bent down and picked up her unconscious form to gently carry her inside.

She reminded him of Shoka, his dead lover, the cause of why he stopped being a doctor. Even though Shoka was dying from the fever, she still made him leave her side in order to save others. She was so selfless.1

This woman seemed selfless as well. Even though she was affected by this so called incurable fever, she did not beg him to help her with her last strength. Instead, she was begging him to help Hotohori, who must be her lover.

"I will save you, so you can be with him again," he whispered as he touched her face with his left hand, summoning his healing powers. Maybe she was a redemption sent by Suzaku. He could not forgive himself for failing to be with Shoka when she first started to get ill, if he had then he would have been able to save her, and she would still be here.

But he would save this stranger who knew of his identity as the celestial warrior, and by saving her he would feel as if he did some act of repentance, as this woman would be with her lover. Somehow, by uniting her with the one she love he would feel less guilty.

* * *

He wasn't the type of man to secretly fiddle with other people's belongings, but when he moved her bag the knot accidentally loosened and all her luggage fell out. As he tried to repack them he saw her opened fan.

The fan with it's fine material betrayed her identity as being very wealthy, and likely of noble birth, or at the very least have some connection with them. Because only these type of people would spend their money on such a fancy trinket.

It had a painting of Suzaku on it, and Mitsukake could not help but to admire the beautiful illustration. Not meaning to, his eyes rested on the poem. The poem itself did not shock him, as it was not uncommon for a well educated man or woman to write a poem onto a fan and give the fan to another out of friendship or love.2

It was the seal beside the signature of Hotohori.

Mitsukake was like most of the people in Konan who lived away from the capital, they lived their whole life hearing many things about their emperor, but never expected to personally see the emperor.

That was why it was such a shock for him when he recognized the seal as the emperor's seal, and being an educated man, he could understand the words: Emperor Saihi.

"This woman is Empress Houki?" he chocked out.

* * *

Opening her eyes Yuri automatically reached for Hotohori, only to find that he was no longer lying beside her due to her own actions. Every morning she would still wake up as if she did not leave the palace, she would always do the very same thing when she wake up. These memories continued to haunt her: waking up with Hotohori beside her, he would be holding her if he woke up first. Then the farewell as he prepared to go to court, it always ended with his promise of being back as soon as he could, and a kiss…

Sighing deeply she sat up, trying to recollect what had happened.

"I arrived in this town and I went to talk with almost every doctor in order to find Mitsukake…" she pondered. "Then I was sick…"

It was day time and she could actually see her surroundings clearly due to the light. Then it must mean that she was cured…

"Mitsukake?" she cried out softly.

The celestial warrior had been dozing on a chair as she was sleeping on the sole mattress in this cottage. Upon hearing her calling him he quickly knelt down in front her.

"Your…your majesty the empress, I beg you to excuse my early rudeness…"3

"Please get up, you saved my life!" Yuri implored. "You are Mitsukake then." At the nod she continued. "Will you…will you go to the capital and find the priestess?"

"Your majesty…"

"My name is Yuri," she interrupted. "If Hotohori, the emperor, wishes his comrades to call him by his name instead of his title, then his empress must be treated in the same way as well. Beside, before I married Hothori, I was a peasant too."

"Very well then…Lady Yuri, I cannot go to the capital just yet because I feel that I must help all the others who are currently affected with fever. Because of my own selfishness I let so many innocents die…"

The two of them shared their stories to one another because both were tormented with a similar guilt.4

"We all have a different form of redemption and repentance." Yuri said quietly. "Mine was to leave Hotohori and find the celestial warriors."

"Now that you found the last one, will you be going back to the palace, Lady Yuri?"5

"No," she stated, "I cannot go back until Suzaku is summoned, as I will only stop feeling guilty then. But I am feeling less guilty now that I found the last celestial warrior, and know that Suzaku would soon be called out."

"I understand, even though we cannot undo our actions we are finding comfort in doing what is the next best thing." Mitsukake agreed, "I cannot resurrect those whom I neglected in my grief, just as you cannot travel back in time and be the priestess of Suzaku. Yet by healing others now, and helping the priestess of Suzaku, our guilt is erased."

"So perhaps it is really just in our mind. No one but our self blames us for what we did." Yuri remarked out darkly, she closed her fan and then handed it to Mitsukake. "I want you to give this to Hotohori when you see him.

"Tell him that what is on this fan is what I feel in my heart, and nothing will ever change that."

Not even, she added inside her head, if you no longer love me, Hotohori. I will still love you.

She raised her hand to stroke the hair ribbon she tied into her hair rather lovingly, because it was Hotohori's.

* * *

Hotohori untied the ribbon in his hair very carefully to hold the long red band in a rather reverend fashion. Balancing it in his hand, he began to stare at it.

"What is he doing?" Taisuki whispered to Miaka. "He was doing that this morning too. Whenever he retie his hair he would always be gazing at that ribbon for such a long time!"

"Maybe it was Yuri's." Miaka shrugged absently. "Otherwise why would he be so careful with it?"

"Why don't I grab it and make him tell me?" Taisuki was naturally completely unaware that Hotohori was also the emperor.

"He'll probably kill you if you do that- if the ribbon is Yuri's." Tamahome whispered.

"Most likely it is." Nuriko remarked out rather sourly. Even though he knew that his love for Hotohori would never be requited he still couldn't help but to feel envy whenever he saw Hotohori thinking about Yuri.

Miaka had a point by reminding him that Hotohori would probably not be able to accept his view on love if he ever find out, but nonetheless, Nuriko was still in love.6

"Hotohori, are you alright?" he asked gently.

"Yes, I'm fine." The emperor replied with a sad smile. "I was just thinking of Yuri."

He was holding her precious hair ribbon in his hand, the same ribbon that had decorated her lovely hair when they first met. This ribbon also represented her past, the barrier that had prevented them from marrying immediately. It was strange but so many memories were contained in this simple ribbon.

There was only two celestial warriors left to find. Hotohori's only hope was that she would come back to him when this all ended. He needed her to be with him so much.

"The mirror is glowing!" Miaka yelled out.

Someone was in this town then…had Yuri been here before? Hotohori wander as they entered the town. He paled considerably when he heard about how the town had been affected with a deadly fever.

"Has a young woman come into this town?" he questioned the guard rapidly. "She is about twenty and she is very beautiful with long curly hair that reaches up to about here, and she…"7

"Hotohori, that type of description applies to a lot of woman." Tamahome whispered to him.

Initially there was a friction between the two men as Tamahome was a bit angry that Hotohori was so obsessed with Yuri, instead of focusing on Miaka's protection. But the two men reached a slight understanding when Tamahome realized that he was actually falling in love with Miaka.

"She will be carrying a sword." Hotohori added.

"Yes, I remember." The guard at the gate nodded. "I remember thinking how strange it was for a woman to carry a sword, especially when she was wearing a dress with her hair down."

"So she did enter?" Hotohori was forcing his voice to be calm, even though his mind was almost bursting due to worries of whether Yuri caught the fever or not. He wouldn't be that surprised if she did though, as she could be rather careless sometimes. She would often walk in her garden with only a thin dress on.

"Yes, but she left the town very soon," the guard continued, unaware of the agitation in his listener. "She was very lucky as she was unaffected by the fever."

"Or maybe she was affected but got cured," Nuriko put in carefully. "We have heard about how there is a legendary healer in this town."

"You mean Ju-An. Yes it is truly amazing, he suddenly appeared and cured almost all those who was sick with the fever." the guard said happily, then frowned slightly as he began to count his fingers. "Now that I think about it, Ju-An appeared the day after that strange woman's arrival. Maybe she is the priestess of Suzaku."

"THAT IS NOT TRUE! THE…" Miaka began but she found her mouth quickly covered by Tamahome.

"Do you want to cause another riot by announcing your true identity?" he hissed to her, reminding her of the incident in the town.

At this Miaka sobered considerably, not just because of his warning, but mainly because she was thinking about what had happened after that incident, she had told Tamahome she liked him, and yet his answer was so cold…

He apologised but she was still rather uncertain of his feelings for her. He said that he liked her, missed her so much when she was gone, and wanted to stay beside her to protect her. But was that love? Was what he felt for her the same thing as what Hotohori had towards her half-sister.

She was still thinking about this when they began to walk to Ju-an's cottage, although the rest of her group was rather occupied as well. Hotohori was too busy thinking about Yuri, while Nuriko was focusing all his attention on him, and Tamahome was arguing with Taisuki again.

Walking up to Hotohori she tugged at the end of his hair.

"What is it, Miaka?" Hotohori asked patiently, although he almost added the following line: "Is there something you want that no one else can give you?"

Despite what the rest of his comrade believed, he did take Tai Yi-Jun's word into heart, but it was simply so difficult for him to obey them fully.

"How did you know that you love my sister?" Miaka asked.

Hotohori sighed slightly before he answered, this made him think of the vows he and Yuri had made to each other once more.

"As I told you before, Miaka, I did not, and still do not, understand why I fall in love with Yuri the moment I saw her. I was meant to choose an empress from a hundred women but I didn't want any one. Then your sister came and she was just the most beautiful woman I ever saw in my whole life.

"But I did not fall in love with her just because she is beautiful, I think I love her just because I simply do. Love is a strange feeling. I took one glance at her and I knew that I want her to be my empress and be at my side for the rest of my life.

"Does that help?"

Miaka shook her head, "Maybe I should ask you how you know whether someone love you."

"I cannot help you much with this question either. Yuri knows that I love her because I told her that at our first meeting, the difficult part was for me to convince her that I really love her, and will always love her. And I know that she loves me as she told me that when she agreed to marry me. That day is truly one of the happiest day of my life." Hotohori's rather dreamy eyes turned rather sharp as they suddenly gazed past Miaka to rest on Tamahome. "But somehow I think your situation is a bit different from ours. I do not think that you will require much convincing when he finally tells you that he actually loves you."

Blushing, she nodded. She was also quite shocked that Hotohori had noticed the amount of time she would gaze at Tamahome, she had truly thought that he was fully occupied with Yuri.

"Miaka, an emperor can never be fully occupied with only one thing." Hotohori said gently, reading her mind.8

* * *

Mitsukake immediately recognized the Suzaku priestess, not because she was the only female, as he thought that Nuriko was a woman too. It was due to the strange clothing that the girl was wearing, as well as dressing in an unusually short skirt that was almost immodest.

"You must be Miaka." He said softly. "I have been waiting for you ever since Lady Yuri told me about you."

"Lady Yuri?" Taisuki repeated this automatically.

"Are you suggesting that she is not worthy of being called a Lady?" Hotohori muttered darkly, he was still angry whenever he thought of what the bandits had wanted to do to Yuri.

"That had nothing to do with me!" Taisuki protested. "Miaka, will you do something about this? He get so unreasonable whenever Yuri is concerned."

"That is because he loves her, you will only understand, Taisuki, when you fall in love with someone. I can understand his feelings as I too, am in love." Nuriko declared passionately, pressing a hand on his heart.

"Shouldn't you give up? Nuriko, Hotohori loves my sister and I mean you being a man as well is not going to help."

Realizing what she just said Miaka quickly hide behind Tamahome, as Nuriko let out a wail and raised his fists. Hotohori, Tamahome and Taisuki were both staring at Nuriko with pure shock.

"I was kissed by a man!" Tamahome spluttered.

Taisuki stretched his hand forward, and with his eyes half closed he began to try and touch Nuriko's chest.9

A slap from Nuriko sent him flying up.

"Don't think that you can touch me in such a shameful fashion just because I am a man!" Nuriko screeched.

"Yuri always laughed and tell me that one day I'll meet another man who is as beautiful as me in the eyes of the rest of the world," Hotohori said, "I guess she was right again although I did not believe her at that time."

"Your wife must be quite beautiful then." Taisuki muttered dryly.

"Yuri is my wife." Hotohori replied back rather sardonically , "And as I recalled your brothers did find her very beautiful."

Mitsukake was initially shocked too at this discovery, but he then noticed a more important thing. Hotohori was here…his emperor was standing right beside him.

"Are you Hotohori?" at the nod Mitsukake continued. "I have something from Lady Yuri to give you."

The two of them left the rest to wait outside and as soon as they were alone, Mitsukake knelt down with the fan lying on the palms of his hands.

"You know that I am the emperor?" Hotohori asked.

Mitsukake nodded. "When I saw the writings on this fan, I knew that Lady Yuri must be the empress and Hotohori is the emperor's name."

"Yes," taking the fan Hotohori held it against his heart. "Please rise. You and I are both one of the seven celestial warriors so we are comrades. Comrades does not kneel to one another."

"But you are the emperor."

"Is not the emperor a man like everyone else? I will not have you kneel to me- let that be an imperial command if you will not grant it as a plea."

Quickly, Mitsukake began to tell him about what had happened to Yuri, upon hearing that she was actually sick Hotohori clenched his hands tightly together, cursing himself for not being able to be beside her in that painful progress.

He smiled slightly when the other informed him that Yuri departed almost happily, as she believed they would soon be reunited.

"It is obvious that she loves you very much." Mitsukake commented.

"And I love her that much too." Hotohori whispered.

Opening the fan he read the poems he had wrote for her, recalling her happiness when he gave the fan to her, and how she never failed to smile slightly whenever she read the poem later on.

"That is what I feel in my heart as well."

Only one more, and then Suzaku would be summoned, and all would be over. His country would be safe, and Yuri would be beside him once more. They would be able to live the rest of their life in happiness because Suzaku would grant their wish.

He could already picture everything. She would soon be pregnant with a child which they both longed for, and since the country would be in peace he could probably devote more time to his family.

"I heard someone playing the flute!" when the two of them rejoined everyone else, they heard Miaka protesting about something very strongly. "I think it is over there."

"Someone playing the flute?" Mitsukake remarked out. "That wouldn't be that strange a thing, there are many street entertainers…"

"It's from outside the city."

As she began to run outside, the rest could do nothing but to follow her. The celestial warriors only heard the music of the flute when they saw the young boy leaning against the tree with his flute.

The words of a song that he had heard when he was only a young boy suddenly formed inside his mind. Absently, he quoted them out so softly that it was barely audible. It was rather suitable as the words reflected his current mood perfectly.

"_And then it will all be over, and then it can all be put aside: the self-accusations, worrying about the country, and the days of regret and sorrow…_"10

"Who are you people?" the young boy began, as he moved they saw the word on his abdomen due to the ragged shirt on him.

"CHIRIKO!" Miaka screamed out, hugging him happily.

"What…who…"

"That is the Priestess of Suzaku, and we are all celestial warriors too." Tamahome quickly explained.

"Finally, Suzaku can be summoned." Hotohori said, smiling happily. He touched the strand of pearls that he always carried and smiled once again.

Everything will soon be well.

Like many other men, Hotohori made the mistake of conjuring up images of happiness before he was sure that it would happen.

* * *

1 I do find the story of Shoka and Mitsukake rather touching but I am changing it for the sake of this story's plot, because I don't know how to fit Yuri in if what happens is the same as the book. So I'm changing it to this: Mitsukake could only cure a person affected with the fever only before a certain amount of time lapsed. In Shoka's case it was too late as she had been sick for too long, but even though she was sick, she still made him leave her in order to save more people. When she died he couldn't take it, so that's why he stopped healing people. I do know that in the real story she was very resentful at Mitsukake for not being with her as she died.

2 Yeah, this is quite common in the old time. A pity that we don't have such things any more. But then that's when people write with these calligraphy pens.

3 I was watching Fushigi Yugi (anime) and the reaction of Mitsukake, Taisuke and the fake Chiriko (can't recall his name right now) when they discovered that Hotohori was the emperor was so funny! The dramatic background music and the three completely stunned faces. That is why I added this little bit in.

4 I was so tempted to let Hotohori meet up with Yuri right now because it would have been quite nice to twist the Hotohori offering to kill Miaka scene with Yuri in it as the central character, I would have like to write about that. But unfortunately I couldn't, so this is what happened instead. In the same way I really want to write about the drowning incident in volume 6.

5 Mitsukake is calling her lady because it would be quite hard to adjust to the idea of calling your ruler by their first name directly, Nuriko called Hotohori Hotohori-sama which is a way of respect, I guess the English equivalent might be lord, that's why Mitsukake is calling Yuri Lady Yuri. But I can't really be bothered to do the whole Japanese chan, san, kun, etc etc.

6 In my story right now, only Miaka knows that Nuriko is a man.

7 I kind of like making Hotohori lose his control when Yuri is concerned, I guess I want to show that he really love her so much that she truly make him feel as a ordinary person instead of the emperor, so therefore he would act rather irrational when she is concerned.

8 As he is the ruler, an emperor would always be occupied with the business of his state in his daily life, and as he is human, he could not just only think about the state, he would be thinking about other stuff: such as those whom he love.

9 I can see Taisuki doing this as he seems such an impulsive character.

10 This is taken from another one of Hotohori's character songs: Sadame no hoshi (Star of destiny) once more, translation obtained from Anime Out of the three Hotohori character songs I have this one is my favourite. I really love this song so that is why I just had to find a way to fit part of the song in my fan fiction somehow, as a result I'm changing even more of the story. I want the words to be said by someone but I don't want to make Hotohori into a person who goes around quoting poem, cause I don't think he is like. As he already kind of randomly quoted a poem, I ended up doing this. He only quoted out the poem due to hearing music that reminded him of the song.

* * *

**_Author's Note: I thought that this chapter would be super short but it actually turned out average, I was quite shocked that I actually made up all these stuff without any plans at all. Anyway, now that Miaka and the rest believed all seven celestial warriors had been find they would go back to the palace and summon Suzaku, I wouldn't be showing this though. Next chapter will be Yuri finding out about the failure, and I will finally reveal her purpose. So please review!_**


	7. Chapter Six

**_Author's Note: This is it, the chapter where I will be bringing my radical ideas. Ok, that was a bit over the top but in this chapter I'll be changing the story a lot. As always, I hope someone will enjoy reading it and please review. The story is approaching it's end. _**

**_By the way I have been rereading some part of Fushigi Yugi and now I finally understand Tai Yi-Jun's role_**

* * *

Yuri had been counting the number of days that had passed since she left Mitsukake and hide away here, at this isolated village near the border. It had been many days now, surely Miaka had enough time to go back to the palace and prepare the ritual. 

Suzaku should be summoned already!

"Suzaku, please come to us quickly!" she prayed again.

Instead of travelling back to the capital she had continued to travel away from it until she ended up here. This village was the closest establishment to Koutou in Konan.

She did not know why she came here, instead of starting to go back to the palace. Somehow she had a feeling of dread, even though she was sure that Suzaku would be called out soon.

Since she arrived here, she had stayed in the temple and spent almost all of her days praying to Suzaku.

The people of this village naturally did not know her real identity, they just thought of her as a traveller who decided to rest a little. The fact that she was a woman alone was rather strange, but as she carried a sword they decided that she must be an unconventional woman in every aspect, which was not impossible.

Sometimes she would leave the temple and talk to the local villagers, they were very friendly- even to a stranger like her . She was especially pleased to hear about their views on the emperor. Most of them regarded Hotohori as a very good emperor, and all seemed to love and respect him greatly.

"What of the Empress?" she simply couldn't resist the temptation to ask them this one day.

"We know little about the empress other then the fact that the emperor love her very much. If that is the case," a man had shrugged carelessly, "Then she must be a virtuous woman."

"I suppose that will always be an empress' role." Yuri thought. "I really have no importance other then to bear a son. Unlike Hotohori, no one but him would really care if I die. They'll just expect Hotohori to elect another."

Walking out of the temple she saw a bunch of young girls giggling to each other, some were probably only a few months younger then her. As she never told anyone about her marital status, these girls greeted her like a following conspirator.

"Look at this!" one giggled.

A bunch of clay dolls were in front of them with a stack of paper, each girl was holding a pen. Taking a doll Yuri held it up to examine it closer, she saw that it was actually two dolls adjoined together, a man and a woman.1

"It's a lovers doll, do you want one, Yuri?" one offered.

"What are they?" Yuri asked in confusion.

"You write your name on a piece of paper and then stick it onto the girl doll, and then you write the name of the man that you love and stick that onto the boy doll. After you do this, you must bury the lovers doll somewhere in secret."

"What for?"

"It will let you be with the man you love forever, and make him always love you."

Taking a pen Yuri followed the instruction.

"And now you just need to bury it…oh!"

The doll made from strong clay suddenly broke apart when Yuri was sticking the names on, the two pieces slipped through her finger and hit the ground, shattering into many pieces.

"Don't worry about it, there's bound to be one that will break…" one of the girl said with forced cheerfulness. "We have a lot of spares. This one seems very stable."

"No, it is alright…" she whispered as she picked the pieces up. "I plan to go back to the temple anyway."

Why did that happen? Even though it was a childish game she could not help but to feel a hint of fear at what just occurred.

* * *

Could it be that I will not be reunite with Hotohori as I had hoped? She thought in shock. Could it be that my betrayal made him stop loving me. 

"No! I won't believe this!" she yelled loudly.

She had to force herself to consider the possibility, after all, she did leave him out of the fear of seeing him hate her. Throughout her journey she kept pretending that everything would be well as soon as Suzaku was summoned.

But what if he was so angry at her that nothing could pacify him?

Closing her eyes she felt tears trickling down again, she had thought that he would forgive her as soon as everything was well but the fear that she was wrong began to erupt.

Maybe that was why she came here, instead of going back to the capital. Because it seemed that until she went back and see Hotohori, she could pretend that he would forgive her and everything would be alright.

"What if…" she whispered these words again.

The only reason she would doubt Hotohori's love for her was because she loved him too much.

Mercifully, sleep soon took over.

* * *

Her dream started very pleasantly. At first she was reliving through her own wedding. She was in that elaborate gown with the string of pearls in her hair, Hotohori was standing beside her, holding her hand tightly. 

The faces of the advisors changed to the numerous unknown faces of the people of Konan. The two of them were carried in a litter and she saw many people throwing flowers towards them.

"Wave at them," Hotohori whispered into her ears. "The acknowledgement of the empress will make them very happy."

Nodding she did so, and almost wept at the cry of joy that greeted her because of that simple action.

Smiling she turned to Hotohori but unlike her real wedding, he was no longer there. Every thing suddenly disappeared and she was left alone in a deserted room with only a mirror in front of her.

By chance she looked into the mirror, instead of her wedding gown she was now dressed in the garbs of a priestess, the robe she had once saw in some illustrations among the ancient scrolls in Hotohori's private library.

"Is this what I might have been?" She asked softly, fingering the trailing blue bands…

Blue instead of red?

"The costume of the priestess of Seiryuu? Why…"

"So we finally meet, Yuri, my priestess."

This was only a dream but she still almost screamed when she saw the figure. Standing only a few paces away from her was Seiryuu, the god of Kutou, the country that was threatening destroy Konan.

"Seiryuu?" she repeated dumbly. "What is all this? Why do you call me your priestess?"

"Because that is what was meant to happen. You arrived in this world almost three years ago…"

'Yes but I arrived in Suzaku's kingdom, in Konan..."

"Do not interrupt me again." the god said, but it was not said unkindly, "There is very little time left in this dream.2

"You were meant to arrive in Kutou so you could summon me, but through a twist of fate you ended up in Konan, and even became the empress.

"Remember what happened the day you came to this world! Remember that book that took you here!"

* * *

_It was the day of her eighteenth birthday but as usual she was spending it alone, she thought about asking some of her colleagues from the office but decided against it, she did not know them that well.__3_

_Someone she made herself a recluse, she knew that if she wanted to she could easily mingle with many other young people at her new workplace. There were actually two men who wanted to go out with her._

_If she asked them to accompany her, they would gladly do so, but somehow she did nothing. It seemed that she was too paranoid of turning into her mother._

_She spent a long time wandering around the town, admiring these fine objects she could not afford to buy just yet. Although she did change into a new dress that she brought this morning, a soft lilac one with that red ribbon in her hair. _

_Suddenly, without any warning, it began to rain._

_The nearest shelter was the library, so she naturally ran in there._

_It was in the library when she first felt the book calling to her. It seemed ridiculous even as she recollected years later but that was what she had felt. The voice would grew dimmer when she approached the library, when she tried to leave the voice broke into such a loud scream that she was forced to step back into the library._

_Secretly she made her way into the locked room and took the book down. It was the right book because that voice ceased as soon as she closed her hands over the spine of the book._

"_The book of the universe of the four gods?" she read the title out softly, "What a strange name for a book."_

"_This book is about how a young woman receives the power of the god Seiryuu…"_

* * *

"So I was meant to be your priestess all along, that means I didn't actually need to leave Hotohori " Yuri said sadly. "It makes sense though, when I arrived Konan was not on the brink of destruction. But Kutou…" 

"Few people knew of what had happened in Kutou. When you arrived the emperor of Kutou was a different man. The last emperor had many children, but when he finally died at a very old age, it was to his youngest son that he gave the country to. Naturally all the others were angry, there was a fierce civil war that ended when the victor among all the other brothers took the throne by force and threw his brother into the dungeon.

"His younger brother, the rightful emperor of Kutou, managed to escape and is now hiding and planning revolts. He would have been a peaceful emperor like your husband- his birth in this war loving country was almost like a miracle. That was why he received the throne, as his father realized that he had a chance of ending the war and corruption that the country had long been tied with."

"What could I have done if I had I been there?" Yuri asked.

"You would have prevented the usurp, then the Suzaku priestess would never have come as she would not be needed. It is too late to change that now but you must still summon me." Seiryuu suddenly turned around, and whatever he saw made him frown. "Time is running out, priestess. Come to Kutou as fast as you can and summon me. Otherwise I fear both Kutou and Konan will be destroyed."

"You would ask this of me? How can you ask me to go and do something that will result in my own death?" she said angrily.

The god met her eyes without flinching as he replied, "I ask this of you in order to save my own life. If Kutou is destroyed, then I will cease to exist."

Yuri nodded, she did not blame Seiryuu one bit as it was natural for someone to want their life to be preserved instead of another's.

"I do not wish to die, surely you can understand that if you have the same fear." She reasoned. "Must I summon you? Can Suzaku not…"

"Unlike you, the priestess of Suzaku will not be able to make the right wish for Kutou. And even if she does, it is impossible, as Suzaku cannot be summoned anymore." There seemed to be a slight bitterness in the god's voice.

"Why?" she demanded.

"The emperor of Kutou and his celestial warriors prevented this due to trickery. They stopped all the ways for Suzaku to be summoned."4

"Then I will go to Kutou." Yuri declared out. "But I am not doing it because I am meant to be the priestess of Seiryuu. I am only doing this because it is the only way to save both Konan and Hotohori."

"Nonetheless your wish will end up helping Kutou." He stretched his hand out to her and pressed it against her forehead for a few seconds, before releasing it. "This mark will let everyone in Kutou know that you are my priestess, my chosen one."

Turning to look into the mirror again, she saw that a picture of a dragon had been imprinted onto her forehead.5

"There is one more thing that I want to know." Yuri called out as she felt the darkness around them beginning to lighten, a sign of the dream ending. "Is this why I cannot bear a child? Because I am not meant to stay in this world?"

Seiryuu nodded. "You cannot stay with him, Yuri. Have you not realize why your appearance changed so little over the two years?"

She sank onto the ground and buried her face into her hands, sobbing openly. So they would force her to leave him no matter what…

* * *

Was the dream only a dream? Yuri asked herself as soon as she woke up. Sitting up she saw that she was clad in the plain robe that she had brought instead of the elaborate robes of the Seiryuu priestess. 

She was brushing her hair when she remembered the last bit of her dream, automatically her hand rested on her forehead.

On the table was a small basin of water that was meant to be for her toiletries, half-afraid, half-eager, she leant over it to use it as a mirror.

It was there, the mark of Seiryuu, as she guess it would be.

"I am the priestess of Seiryuu, what an ironic fate." She muttered bitterly, "I who became the empress of Konan, Suzaku's country; the wife of one of the seven celestial warriors of Suzaku, was sent here for this purpose!"

She would go to Kutou and summon Seiryuu, as both Konan and Hotohori would be saved. Yuri was fully aware that she would die to achieve this but somehow it seemed that she no longer cared. Because it seemed that either way she and Hotohori must part, so her best option was to make him safe at the expense of her own life.

Kutou was a much more stronger country then Konan, and she knew that when the battle began Hotohori would ride out in the very front. He would willingly die for his kingdom.

There was no way for them to remain together. Even in the unlikelihood of Konan winning she still could not remain here.

Until Seiryuu reminded her of her appearance she had not understand the true significance of it. She was eighteen when she came here, and now at twenty, she still looked exactly the same as she was two years ago. Her hair had been waist length, and it still remained that long even though she never once cut it.6

If I stay here I will have to watch Hotohori die before me, and I will outlive him by so many years. I can never give him a child either…

The best thing for me to do is to summon Seiryuu, she realized very sadly. Dying is my best option as I will not be able to live with the pain of being away from Hotohori in that lonely world I had come from, or even just from knowing that he would be making love to another woman and have a child with her!

At that moment, she knew what her three wishes would be.

Perhaps she knew what would have happened all along, as she had took the clothes she wore the day she found the book. Her original reason of taking them was that they might be discovered if she left them in her quarters in the palace.

Now she was not so sure. Maybe it was fate all along.

She put on the lilac dress and then slipped the pair of stilettos on. It felt so strange for her to wear these cloths again. She seemed to have adjusted to the custom of this world a bit too well as she felt that she was dressing too immodestly by wearing a dress that has just one layer, and had no sleeves with the skirt reaching only to her knees.

In the past two years when she was the empress, she rarely wore a gown that did not consists of at least two layers, with the shortest length up to her ankle, and all the sleeves at least reached past her elbow.

"Surely, no one will be able to recognize the Empress Houki in this outfit." She said rather sourly as she quickly cloaked herself. "Even the whores in brothels wear more then me right now."

Closing her eyes she began to plait her very long hair, then she grasped the braid in her hand tightly, must she cut this too? She was only the empress, not the emperor, so it was not likely for anyone in Kutou to recognize her when no one in Konan did.

But what if they did and used her as a hostage…no, she could not endanger Hotohori in anyway. Her greatest wish was for him to be happy, and only Seiryuu could grant it now.

Taking the dagger she sliced it through the braid neatly. Watching it fall to the ground she had an urge to cry again.

She had always been vain of her long hair since her childhood, it was something that connected her with her dead mother. When she tied her hair with the ribbon in the same method her mother had taught her, she could pretend that it was her mother's fingers that were weaving through her hair.

When she was a child she had been forced to cut her hair once. Miaka's mother had demanded so: "If I must have that whore's child in my house then at least make her cut her hair so she doesn't look like a clone of that whore!"

Her hair ended up as short as a boy's and she spent many days crying herself to sleep, holding the braid in her hand. Her vanity towards the length of her hair was not because of the result of her appearance, it was because by having long hair she could bear her mother's death more easier.

Her mother's hair was like her's in everyway: the length, texture, style. When Yuri's hair was short she was so afraid that she would forget how to tie her hair the way her mother taught her, that she practised with her only doll every single day and night until her hair grew long enough again.

By that time, her father had moved out so Miaka's mother had no way of making Yuri cut her hair again.

Then in Konan, Hotohori had always been fond of touching her hair, and he had often told her how beautiful he looked with her long hair.

"I should give this to him," she said to herself as she picked the long braid up. Her hair now only reached to her shoulders, to make her looked even more different she swept it into a high pony tail, securing every single strand with the white ribbon.

Later on, when she looked at her reflection in the river she had to admit that she looked very different from Empress Houki. But this woman wasn't Houki Yuri either.

She was someone else, this Yuri was not an empress or the lonely girl who clung onto her mother's memory for many years. She was a young woman who no longer cared for anything else now, as she knew that her life would soon end.

This Yuri was the priestess of Seiryuu.

* * *

1 These dolls came out in volume five and I just suddenly thought it'll be a good idea to write about this, even though Nuriko said it's played by girls in the city, I think it is possible that it might have been done by girls all over the country. 

2 I really don't think that Seiryuu is a cruel god although he did ate Yui. But technically the priestesses were meant to make that sacrifice, so the point it, I've made Seiryuu into quite a kind god as well, abit like Suzaku. I think it's just the current king of Kotou who was cruel, and I guess some of the warriors of Seiryuu. (on a side note I actually like Soh quite a lot.)

3 This whole italic bit is a flashback. Yuri used to work in various jobs at her early and mid teens, a few months before her eighteenth birthday she got a job as an O.L, office lady.

4 Presuming that by this time the warriors of Seiryuu also took the two other sacred objects of the two other gods.

5 When Yui was calling out Seiryuu she had a picture of dragon on her forehead, I tried to see if Miaka had a picture of a bird on her forehead when she first called Suzaku but I haven't find it yet. But anyway, later on in Kutou, Yuri was escorted to the palace immediately due to that mark.

6 Another thing I understand now as I re-read the manga is the time difference thing. Before, I actually thought that if someone stayed in the universe of the four gods for two years, they will age by two years although when they return to the outside world, only six months would have passed. Apparently what would happen is that even though someone (eg Yuri) stayed in the book world for two years, she would only physically age as if two months (outside world time) had passed.

* * *

**_Author's Note: Ok, how did every one find that? I really enjoyed writing this and I just hope that someone actually likes it. I suppose this is kind of a turning point in my story, everything is now truly really really different from the original. Please leave a review, even if you didn't like it._**

**_Wow, this chapter is all about Yuri, Hotohori didn't come out at all. But don't worry, he will be coming out in the next chapter. In the next chapter Yuri arrives in Kutou and she is acknowledged as their priestess, she will be calling out Seiryuu and make her three wishes. She and Hotohori will finally be getting back together in a way in the next chapter. So please review!_**


	8. Chapter Seven

_**Author's Note: Author's Note: ok folks, the story is approaching it's end so please review (the two topic aren't related but I really want reviews- I'm shameless in that way). Anyway, as I said, this chapter involves Yuri calling out Seiryuu with her three wishes.**_

_

* * *

_

Kutou was very different from Konan, under the harsh rules of the current emperor, as well as many of his predecessors, the people of Kutou were more suspicious of strangers. Many of the people had long lost their ideal and all they cared about was survival.

Yuri felt many stares when she arrived at the capital of Kutou in her outfit, she knew that many would be seeing her as a harlot for walking on the street like this. But nevertheless she must do this.

"I wish to enter the city." She stated.

"You need a…" the guard began.

"I have it right here!" she moved closer to the guard, pointing to the mark on her forehead. "I had a dream where I talked to this being who called himself Seiryuu and told me that I must go to the palace and see the emperor."

"That…that is the mark of Seiryuu." The guard whispered to his comrade beside him. "And she is dressed very strangely."

"You think she is the priestess of Seiryuu?"

"What is this?" they were interrupted by a voice that clearly rang with authority. Turning, Yuri saw a man in armour riding towards them. "Why are you blocking the gate?"

"General!" one of the guard greeted the man riding with great relief. "This woman claims that she talked to Seiryuu in her dreams and she have the mark of Seiryuu on her."

"The mark of Seiryuu?" Nakago whispered, grabbing Yuri by the hair he pulled her face toward him to examine her forehead, much to his shock the mark was there.

He smiled slightly, so the priestess of Seiryuu finally come. It seemed that his plans were possible after all. In order for success though, he must first win the priestess to his side.1

Jumping down from his horse he quickly knelt down in front of her.

"Forgive me, lady, I thought you were only claiming to be the priestess, for it is not the first time that I have witness such a shameless thing. But I now see that you are truly chosen by Seiryuu."

"I know little of all this." Yuri replied back innocently, she quickly decided that not only did she dislike this man, she also could not trust him. "All I have been told is that I must summon Seiryuu as soon as possible."

"Then I will take you there right now," he declared gallantly, taking her hand he kissed it first, then helped her to mount onto his horse.

Nakago was going to say something again when he suddenly noticed that there was a faint blue aura surrounding this young woman. There was no doubt then, that she really was the priestess of Seiryuu.

"What is it? I thought you were going to say something?" Yuri asked.

"Yes, I wish to tell you more of Seiryuu." Nakago was a highly charismatic man and had he met Yuri when she first arrived in this world, then he might actually have convinced her to do all that he said.

He told her about the legend of Seiryuu, but naturally left out the part about the priestess being eaten, just in case she was not a virgin anymore.

"What will you wish for?" he asked her.

"What I would wish for? I suppose I want happiness." Yuri replied truthfully. "What of you?"

This was his chance.

"Lady Yuri," Nakago whispered directly to her ear. "I must tell you that our emperor is corrupted. If I can then I would like to end his region. I dream of ruling a fair kingdom…"

Once more he began to try and sway her with his words. By the time they arrived in the palace he was convinced that he fully persuaded her to make his wish for him.

Unknown to him, Yuri never intended to keep any of her promises. What did the breaking of vows matter when she was going to die very soon? Especially if it was a promise made due to another person's lie.

For the first time she felt fear at the prospect of dying, was she really going to summon her own death? Every thing had happened so fast, discovering that Suzaku could no longer be summoned when Seiryuu told her that she was his priestess. In a way she had just accepted the facts and travelled to Kutou without thinking much.

What do I have to live for? She asked herself again. I just want to be with Hotohori but that is now something that could never be. If I do not call Seiryuu then I would be stuck in this world forever and I will be forced to live for such a long time alone, and even watch Hotohori die.

Death right now is my best option, she said to herself sadly. As I will probably be killing myself soon anyway..

Is death not just one long sleep anyway? She thought of her dear mother again and recollected her death scene, but for the first time she thought of it with a smile instead of bursting into tears.

I'll be joining you soon, mama. She whispered inside her head. You'll be waiting for Hotohori with me.

Somehow she knew that she would be reunited with Hotohori after they both died, it seemed that death would grant what life could not give. Even though they lived in two different worlds, death was the same- thus she knew she would see him when he die.2

* * *

The ritual for summoning Seiryuu was quickly prepared. Unlike what happened in Konan, the seven warriors of Seiryuu were already all there. Even Amiboshi was present, but due to his fall into the river he had lost almost all of his memory, the only memories he retained were all related with Suboshi only.3

"Please remember what I said, Lady Yuri." Nakago said, he knelt down in front of her and kissed her hand again.

Yuri forced her lip to curl into a smile and soften her gaze as she replied very tenderly. "I understand, I will grant you your wish." For good measure she added some more compliments. "You are so kind to me by helping me so much! This is the least that I can do as a repayment!"

"The ritual is starting, 'Priestess'!" Soh interrupted angrily, her eyes glaring very hard at Yuri.

Yuri had already purified herself but she did not feel as if she was pure. Instead, she felt even more contaminated as she had said and done nothing but lies in her dealings with both the emperor and her seven celestial warriors. What happened to her was completely different from Miaka's experience. Miaka would be loved, or at the very least treasured, by all seven celestial warriors of Suzaku.

But it was truly too late to turn back.

She walked to the altar, dressed in the robe of the priestess of Seiryuu, who she should have been. Her hair was let down and intertwined with a jade headdress that was carved into the shape of Seiryuu's original form. Even now she rather be the empress of Konan- who she should not have ended up as.

Closing her eyes she threw Kutou's sacred book into the fire and began to chant the right words. Unknown to her, both the seven warriors and the emperor saw a wave of blue light surrounding her completely.

Unconsciously, one of them took a step toward Yuri, they quickly discovered that this blue light had formed a shield around their priestess.

"Seiryuu, please come to us!" she screamed out, kneeling down with her hands tightly clasped.

And Seiryuu did appear.

* * *

Meanwhile in Konan, Hotohori was preparing his army with the aid of all the other celestial warriors, as well as Miaka. Much to many people's surprise he actually took the news of how Suzaku could no longer be summoned even after Miaka's attempt of finding the two other deities' sacred object tolerable well.

"All my life I relied on Suzaku too much." Hotohori had said rather sadly, after reassuring Miaka that he truly did not blame her at all. "As a result I lose all that I care about. If I had spent time preparing my army first, instead of just focusing on summoning Suzaku then we might have a higher chance of winning. In the same way my obsession with calling out Suzaku caused Yuri to leave my side because she ended up believing that I would hate her for not summoning Suzaku at the cost of her own life.

"It doesn't matter anymore. All we can do now is to fight to protect all those we love and care about. Whether it be a kingdom, or a person."

But seeing the appearance of Seiryuu made him deeply shocked.

"Seiryuu is summoned, but how…" he chocked out.

He immediately thought of Yuri, she was from another world, could it be possible that she became the Seiryuu priestess with the hope of saving Konan through that action?

Konan might be safe but she would die…and if she dies…

"I will not be able to continue living." he whispered.

He was in a great conflict, as he did not know which he wished for more. To have Seiryuu summoned by someone other then Yuri and possibly lose his own life along with his kingdom, or to have Konan saved at the expense of his beloved empress' life.

"I am a human as well," he said to himself, "and I am a man in love. If Yuri lives then I will feel guilty about Konan forever, but yet if she throws her life away for Konan I can never be happy again.

"Why do you do this to me, Suzaku? Is it simply not my fate to be happy? Why must I give up one of the two things that are both very important to me, either the woman I love or the country I desire to protect? Why can I not have both? Is it a sin for me to want to have both?"

* * *

"Seiryuu, as you requested, I summoned you." Yuri stated flatly to the god that she was meant to own her allegiance to, she had to force her voice to remain cold as she was fighting back hysteria. She was tempted to start laughing manically due to the fact that she was going to die very soon.4

"Are you really willing to do this?" Seiryuu asked.

She nodded, "What else can I do now?"

"I will give you one last chance," Seiryuu answered instead, his voice suddenly very gentle. "If you want to then I will take you back to Konan. Konan still have a chance of surviving…"

Yuri started to laugh, and this time the hysteria was so much more obvious to detect.

"After all that I have done there is no possible way for me to turn back." She finally said when she halted the rather pathetic laughter. "I am a very selfish person, I want Hotohori to live although he will be in so much pain due to my death. I want him to live even though he would want to die for my sake instead of letting this happen. I choose to let him live by taking away his happiness."5

She closed her eyes once more and whispered: "I am ready."

Even though her eyes were closed she could see Seiryuu approaching her, then entering her body though rays of blue light.

"From now on you will see me whenever you close your eyes." Seiryuu whispered. "And know that I will protect you, even from your own protectors- my other chosen ones."6

The pain she felt was stronger then any physical pain she had ever experienced before. Staggering to the ground she felt tears running down her cheeks, making her already blurred vision even worse, and her body was trembling so badly that she could not even stand up again.

"It is done!" someone called out eagerly.

Was it? Raising her hands she saw that part of her arms were actually covered with the blue scales of Seiryuu. Her body continued to be in that unbearable pain. The best way to describe it might be that it was as if someone was biting her skin, a rather accurate description as Seiryuu would end up devouring her.

"It is done." She repeated. Closing her eyes she did see Seiryuu standing in front of her as he had promised. He was watching her with a most strange expression on his face, was it because he already know her wishes?

"You say you will grant me any wish that I make," she whispered to him, "Even if I wish for Suzaku to be summoned by my half-sister?"

"I will grant it gladly." He told her.

"Then that will be my first wish." She said.

Opening her eyes she saw the shocked face of the seven celestial warriors as well as the emperor, so they heard her conversation with their god. If it wasn't for the shield of Seiryuu protecting her, she had no doubt that she would be killed immediately.

"Why are you doing this?" the emperor demanded angrily. He was seeing all his ambitions of being the over ruler of the four kingdom slipping fast out of his hands. Unknown to him, Nakago was suffering a very similar disillusion.

But Nakago was also cursing his own stupidity, to trust this seemingly naive woman completely when she turned out to be so devious! She might actually even be a spy from Konan…

Since her game was up Yuri decided that she might as well state her true identity. Smiling very coldly, she savoured in every moment as a triumph of Konan against Kutou.

"I am the priestess of Seiryuu, as I am from another world. But I have also been here for more then two years," she spat each word out maliciously. "I am also the wife of the Emperor Saihi of Konan, I am the Empress Houki of Konan."

She closed her eyes to face Seiryuu again, to tell him her second wish.

"I wish for Kutou to be a country that will be in peace with Konan, so I want the man who should be the emperor to be emperor."

"In this way Kutou will be reborn," Seiryuu nodded with approval. "I can grant you this wish as well, but my priestess, are you prepare to pay the price this wish demands?"

"Is my death not the price I pay to you to have my three wishes granted?" she asked, truly puzzled.

"This wish can be grant through the current emperor's death, and the death of the rest of the seven celestial warriors, because as long as they live they will be a threat to you and Konan, as well as the new emperor. For this to come true, your hand must be the cause of their death."

"If I am willing to die," Yuri laughed sadly, "Then there is nothing else that I will not do. Grant me my wish."7

Her eyes were forced open and reaching to the altar, her hands pulled out a pair of ceremonial swords. The swords were very decorative, but they were still fully capable of killing, as she would soon find out.

The shield around her was dispelled as soon as her hands touched the weapons, Soh and Suboshi immediately charged toward her with their weapons. Without even shaking, her hands drove the two swords into the two warrior's heart at the same time.

By this time Yuri's body was controlled by Seiryuu. But even though she could not move, her mind still flinched at the rain of blood that began to shower upon her as he continued with the killing through her body.

After her hands stabbed the emperor, they raised the sword again to severe the emperor's head. Mechanically, she got on a horse with that trophy and started to ride toward a specific mountain.

Yuri realized that this must be where the rightful emperor of Kutou was hiding even without Seiryuu informing her.

The rebels guarding the entrance to the secret hideaway automatically parted when she stepped down from her horse, she wasn't sure whether it was due to the mark of Seiryuu on her forehead, or because she was holding the head of the late emperor.

It could also be because Seiryuu made them give way to her. Either way, she didn't care anymore. When she accepted Seiryuu into her body she was really accepting her own death, what should a person worry about when they were going to die soon?

Then she killed all these people, as it was her wish to Seiryuu. Before, she had gone into a mental shock just because of the killing of a bandit who would have raped her. Now, not so long ago, she had killed many people, some who were good, this knowledge was granted to her when she drove her swords into their hearts.

Nakago had wanted to manipulate her and make himself emperor, therefore destroying Kutou and later on he would wipe out the whole of Konan, the moment that Yuri killed him, she understood what Seiryuu had meant.

Nakago's kingdom would destroy both Kutou and Konan.

He was the one person she did not regret killing, like the emperor. But many others were innocent, Soh would have been a very gentle and even kind woman if fate had not been so cruel to her. Up to her death, she did every thing for Nakago.8

Perhaps she had gone mad, it wouldn't surprise her if she did. To kill one man had almost caused her to break down, now she had killed eight people. Maybe even more as she was sure that there had been guards who tried to prevent her from continuing her actions.

Seiryuu guided her to the right room, otherwise she would never have been able to find the man who was meant to be emperor, even if her body was walking properly. The hideout was full of bobby traps, secret passages and even fake doors.

If Yuri was in her normal self, she would have been shocked at the appearance of the man who was meant to be the emperor, but right now all she cared for was the complete fulfilment of the second wish, and then make her third wish.

The man who was meant to be the emperor was in his mid thirties, for his father had died at an old age. The main reason he was not expected to be the rightful emperor in this war filled country was because of his legs: he was crippled so badly that he could no longer walk by himself. But even though he was dressed plainly like everyone around him, there was an air of royalty that surrounded him.

Without a word Yuri threw the head to him.

"You are the emperor again." she said flatly.

Seeing this the "emperor" quickly stood from his seat with the aid of his servants beside him to kneel right in front of Yuri.

"Priestess of Seiryuu…" he began.

"As I said, you are the emperor again," Yuri repeated emotionlessly, "So go back to the palace and sort everything out. Bring peace to your people, Kutou certainly is in desperately need of that."

"I will, priestess, and I thank you deeply for doing this. But why have you helped me? How did you even know about me?"

"Seiryuu told me, he also said that you will be a good emperor. One that will end all this war, you will not attack Konan…" at the mentioning of Hotohori's kingdom her voice was filled with sadness. "If you really wish to thank me then do this: withdrew all your army and promise to never invade Konan ever again. And teach your heir well to prevent all this mess from happening a second time. "

"I will." The emperor promised sincerely. "Priestess, since I became the emperor and until I lost the position due my brother's usurp, I had tried to end the wars Kutou was involved in. I used to love warfare until I lost the use of my legs during my mid twenties. Since then I realize the horror of war. I admit that I was selfish and foolish, to only understand so late. But when I could no longer walk, I realized that so many would be suffering this hellish pain as I have by declaring war. For the first time I experienced the pain of war, and for the first time I discovered my buried conscious.

"I can not bear to have war as I know what these people would suffer, I can no longer inflict such pains on anyone now that I know how painful it is myself."9

"All I want is for Konan to be safe." Yuri repeated.

"I will arrange the withdrew of the armies and send ambassadors to Konan immediately. Priestess, what will you…"

"I will go back to Konan." Yuri declared. "I will go and see the Emperor Saihi. I want to see him one last time."

"But Priestess…"

"I am Empress Houki," she smiled slightly. "Kutou's priestess is also the consort of Emperor Saihi. I love the emperor of Konan, so that is why I wish for Konan to be safe."

In her heart, Yuri knew that this man would be a very good emperor, he would crush any more rebellions if necessary but he would never be like the last emperor, and many of the emperors before them, who sought to control all four empires.

She also knew that Kutou would be reborn under his leadership. Life for the people of Kutou would be quite hard in the next few decades due to the distrust the three other kingdoms held for past actions, but they would be able to live in peace with the rest one day.

This was the vision Seiryuu granted to his priestess. It was like a last gift for her.

* * *

She spent the next few days riding to Konan with an ambassador that also served as a protector. She was still in the robes of the Seiryuu priestess and she saw no point of changing them right now.

Her whole body began to be in great pain, the pain of being bitten was still there, and her escort told her that she was very pale now. She couldn't even go to sleep due to the pain, so they rode without any rest.

They only stopped when they were a few paces away from entering Konan. This was done as she decided to make her last wish to Seiryuu.

Closing her eyes she spoke to the god and prepared to make her last wish.

"I am going to Konan to see Hotohori for the last time. That is not my wish though," she quickly added, "My last wish is for Hotohori to be happy forever.

Seiryuu was standing right in front of her, that was why she saw the great pity in his eyes very clearly when he shook his head.

"This is one of the few wishes that I cannot grant for you." He told her gently.

"Why? You said that you would grant all my three wishes!" Yuri protested angrily, almost shrieking like a child.

"You yourself should know why I cannot grant that wish. You must die, there is nothing I can do to prevent that. Do you know why the priestesses all have to be virgins if they wish to live?" at the shock of head he continued softly, "To call out a god the priestesses must give the most important thing they own to the god as the sacrifice. A virgin priestess will give the god her virginity, since you no longer own that, the next important thing you own is your body- your life.10

"Because you have to die, I cannot make the emperor of Konan happy. You should know that he can never be truly happy if you are not there."

"Then what should I wish for?" Yuri whispered brokenly, "I have nothing else that I want which you can grant."

Very gently Seiryuu approached her and picked her up so that he carried her in his arms. At the sight of the god's hands she had flinched, as his contact had gave her so much pain during the ritual.

Surprisingly it didn't hurt at all, it brought an almost familiar sensation, the feelings she had experienced whenever Hotohori carried her like this. Even though her body was still in pain, she felt a bit more comfortable because of the memories of being in Hotohori's arms.

"That is why I do this," Seiryuu said gently, "I will take you to your emperor, and then you can make your last wish."

"Why are you taking me there?" she whispered, by this time she was unable to see anything at all, not even Seiryuu.

"Because you will not be able to last long enough to return to the palace."11

* * *

The news of the complete withdrew of Kutou's army at the borders naturally caused a great shock for everyone. Soon, the news of how Kutou has a new emperor arrived in Konan, but Hotohori and his advisors were still doubting the sincerity of these actions.

"What if it is a trick for us to lower our guard?" Hotohori said to Chichiri, who took the most active part in the discussion at the war council.12

"I agree but…"

"HOTOHORI! HOTOHORI!" this loud scream was naturally done by Miaka. Without offering any excuses, she charged in the private chamber and interrupted the discussion.

In her hand was Konan's copy of the sacred book, the book that had been burnt in the unsuccessful attempt to summon Suzaku.

"How…" Hotohori began in confusion, suddenly, he thought of an explanation. He quickly turned to Chichiri.

"No, Tai Yi-Jun had nothing to do with this." Chichiri answered before the emperor even asked the question.

"I found this in the temple just then. It might have been there for quite sometime for all we know…" Miaka began.

"That doesn't matter now. I think we should still try and summon Suzaku, as Suzaku might still be the only way for us to solve all this problem without that much loss." Chichiri suggested.

Hotohori nodded, he was actually wandering whether it was because of Yuri that this happened.

"Prepare the rituals as fast as possible!" he ordered his people, who were only too glad to that. But before he went to help them, he decided to go to Yuri's section of the palace again.

Somehow, he had such a strong desire to do so.

* * *

Yuri finally woke up in her own chambers again. Staggering up she smiled very sadly as she looked at the surroundings. Hotohori had obviously spent a long time here as many of her objects were moved, but what made her more sad was that he had also tried to put all her things back the way she had left them.

"I am so sorry, Hotohori." She whispered again.

"Who is in there?" that familiar voice of her two maids greeted her. "Who dares to enter the empress' chamber?"

Upon seeing her the two girls shrieked and both knelt down in front of her, clutching onto her gown tightly.

"Mistress, what are you wearing…" one finally asked.

"Isn't that the ceremonial robe of a priestess? But why is it blue…" The other squeaked out in horror.

"This is the ceremonial robe for the priestess of Seiryuu. I am wearing this because this is who I am." She told them as she gently pried their hand off her dress. Walking to her dressing table she pulled out one of the drawers and took some of her jewelleries out.

"I do not need these trinkets anymore, if the emperor allows this- then I wish for these to be given to you two along with your freedom."

"But mistress…" they began again.

Bending down she hugged them one last time and kissed them both on the cheeks, before patting their heads in that affectionate way she always used. After all this, they were still more close to her, and more like her sister, then Miaka.

"I release you two from my service and if you wish to then you can leave the palace. With my jewelleries you will be able to live in comfort. You could even help your father to set up a tavern somewhere else. Or perhaps you could get marry soon to a nice man each, I know you two sometimes like to look at the guards."13

"We only want to serve you!" her two maids cried out simultaneously. "Please, mistress, don't send us away."

Smiling gently she hugged them again, whispering this to them: "But how can you continue to serve me when I will be dead soon?

Then she stood up and stepped outside, prepared to find Hotohori. She realizes what she would do now, what her last wish would be.

* * *

Hotohori was making his way to the path that would take him to Yuri's quarters, with Chichiri beside him. The other would forbid him to mope about in her room too much.

He still spent all his free time there, although he rarely get any time to himself now. It hurt him to not be with her when he was in her chambers, but he felt more pain to not even have these memories there. If he could not be with her, then he would cling onto the memories of her presence.

Miaka would now be donning on the robe of the priestess of Suzaku, while Tamahome and Taisuki would be together- the two young men would be trying to reassure one another. It was strangely how he felt so much more older then them, when there was only a difference of two years.14

Chiriko would most likely be reading in the library, hoping to come up with something that could help them, while Mitsukake might be mixing medicines if he was not examining Nuriko.

Nuriko had returned as a very different person. The first thing Hotohori noticed was that his hair was cut very short, and even though he still acted rather feminine at times, he truly appeared as a man. He had mostly recovered from his wounds but upon Mitsukake's advise, he was still resting most of the time.

When he first saw the woman stepping toward him he thought he was hallucination again. Clutching at his temple he decided that he would go and seek advise from Mitsukake after all.

"Empress Houki…" one of the guard yelled this out, automatically kneeling down.

Surely it was not possible…

It was Yuri, but she appeared so different, almost strange! Her beautiful hair was no longer reaching to her waist, instead it barely touched her shoulders. Her face also appeared rather haggard, not that any tiredness or hair cuts would make her appear less beautiful in Hotohori's eyes.

For everyone else though, it was her outfit that caused the most shock. She was wearing the blue robe of the priestess of Seiryuu.

"You majesty, the empress' gown…" a guard began.

"I don't care at all!" Hotohori yelled out, he had recognized her clothing very quickly, but as he himself said, he truly did not care.

He ran to her while she remained completely immobile, her hands dropped to her side lifelessly when she saw him, she then sank onto the ground. As soon as he reached her he knelt down as well so that he could wrap his arms around her, he did all this and then he held her next to his body very tightly. At the first physical contact with her he began to weep, and the sudden damping of his own robe informed him that she was crying too.

"Yuri…why did you leave…do not ever leave again…I will die…I love you…Suzaku can be summoned…you don't have to go…" he muttered incoherently between his tears.

Yuri said nothing, all she could do was to lean against him and let her tears fall out. After so long and so much, she was with him again. She missed him so deeply…the way he would hold her, the feel of his warm body against her's, his gently voice…

But this could not last, the pain in her body was a constant reminder.

Hotohori clung onto her so tightly because he knew that the moment he let go of her, she would be away from him again. Unlike last time, she would go onto a journey that he could not follow just yet.

"I love you, you did nothing wrong at all!" He whispered, kissing her tears away, feeling the teardrops stinging his lips. "Don't leave me ever again, Yuri. When you were gone from me, I almost died."

"You know I love you, that is why I left you." She pulled away from his kisses, but not out of his embrace, that was something she could not give up just yet. Staring past his shoulders, she saw that every one else had arrived. Judging from their looks, they all seemed to have worked out her fate.15

Miaka clung onto Tamahome tightly, not wanting to suffer the pain of parting her sister and Hotohori must face, Tamahome returned her hold equally fierce, as he felt the same way.

Taisuki felt a hint of sadness as he looked at them, was this what it meant to fall in love? To suffer this much? Beside him, Chichiri and Mitsukake were both thinking of their partings with their own lovers.

Chiriko could not bear to look at Yuri at all. He was remembering his first meeting with her once again, her pleading for him to go to the place and find the priestess. The worst bit was not because he didn't go straight away, but because he lied to her by saying that he would go. Perhaps he might have prevented his emperor's pain, and his empress' soon to be death.

Nuriko arrived too, deep in his heart he always knew that Hotohori would never love him even if he was a woman since the day he attended the emperor's wedding. It was obviously that Hotohori was deeply in love with the woman whom he just crowned as his empress. But yet he had continued to hope foolishly.

Now he realized that he truly lost. Hotohori would not be with anyone else even when Yuri dies.

"Hotohori," Yuri said again, looking deeply into his eyes. "I love you, always remember that. My time is running out…I did become the priestess of Seiryuu. I did it for Konan but it seems that this has been my destiny all along. Fate must have found it fun to toy with us. Making me arrive in Konan and falling in love with you when we could never be together during our life."

"No!" he yelled out, pulling her to him once again. "Do not die, Yuri, I will do anything for you…"

"But there is nothing you can actually do for me." she stroked his face lovingly, her fingertips touching his tears even as her own tears continued to fall. "I have to die, there is nothing anyone can do to prevent that, not even the gods themselves.

"My first wish was for Suzaku to be able to be summoned by Miaka, and it seems that Seiryuu granted it to me. Next I wished for Kutou to be at peace with Konan, this was granted by the death of the emperor. I can promise you that the new emperor of Kutou truly want to have peace with Konan.

"As for the third wish, I had asked Seiryuu to let you live the rest of your life happily, but he said that he cannot grant it…"

"I cannot live with any happiness if you die, Yuri."

"I am such a selfish person, Hotohori." Yuri whispered, "I rather see you live and be sad, instead of dying but be happy. I had a chance, Hotohori, to turn away from all this madness. But I refused, because no matter what I cannot be with you as I am from a different world, so I rather go on this path. I cannot stand the idea of seeing you die before me…" softly she began to explain everything.

"That is why I choose to call out Seiryuu and save both kingdoms in the process. But the pathetic truth is that I actually don't really care about Kutou or even Konan, I only did it so you will be safe. I think I only love Konan so much because you are the emperor, and you love your kingdom. I guess you can say it is always you that I love, not Konan." Raising her hands the sleeves fall down to reveal the large parts of her flesh that were now covered with scales. "As I said, my time is running out."

"You cannot leave me, Yuri, you know that I will die if you do so. You still don't believe me, but I truly value you above my kingdom. If my kingdom is gone, I will be sad but I can still manage to continue living as long as you are beside me. But if you die right now…I truly do not know how I can continue living."

"I know you will be sad, so that is why my last wish to Seiryuu was for you to be happy. But he cannot grant it. I know I shouldn't come as that will make you more sad but I have too see you one last time…"

"Then take me with you!"

She pressed her hand against his mouth, silencing him, and let him hold her a bit longer, before she withdrew her hand to kiss him. Closing her eyes, she faced Seiryuu for what she now knew to be truly the final time.

"I have only one more thing in my life that I would wish for, Seiryuu, I do not want Hotohori to see my death."

* * *

Hotohori suddenly found his vision gone, there was nothing but darkness stretching before him. He tried to hold onto Yuri but she shook his hold off very easily.

"This is not meant to happen!" he screamed as he felt someone grabbing him, restraining him. Was it Nuriko? It might have been. But he still attempted to fought that strong grip off and run to Yuri although he didn't know where she was at all.

If she must die, and he could not follow, then at least let him hold her a bit longer; let him embrace and kiss her one more time; and let him be able to spend a last night with her.

But she was gone, torn out of his embrace.

"This is not meant to happen," he repeated. He had thought that she would be with him again as soon as Suzaku was called out, but now she would be gone even before his own god appear. What was all this for? To meet the woman he love only to have her snatched from him. What did he do to deserve this cruel torture from fate?

Instead of returning to be with him once again, she arrived to say farewell. It seemed that he only held her for that few seconds in his arms before this blindness took over.

Her death would hurt him, but to not be able to see her before she ended up being devoured by Seiryuu was even worse.16

"At least leave me a body to mourn over!" he yelled bitterly. "Can I not even have this?"

* * *

Yuri stepped away from Hotohori, although it pained her so much to do it. She had the urge to continue holding him, and she almost asked Seiryuu to kill Hotohori with her, as he had offered. So she would not have to face death alone.

But Konan need their ruler, and Miaka need him to summon Suzaku. Miaka's own wishes were not grant, and maybe Suzaku could help Hotohori even though Seiryuu was unable to.

She kept her eyes on Hotohori, who was held back by Nuriko as he was trying to make his way to her even though his eyes could no longer see. She would no longer be here when he next see with these eyes.

I am sad at this but I do not regret my actions, she realized, that is how selfish I am.

"Nuriko, marry him." Saying this still made her cry even more. "Give him the son I can never give him."

"What nonsense are you saying?" Nuriko snapped, struggling to keep Hotohori under control. "The emperor will never be able to be with anyone else other then you. Beside, I am a man as well."

If it wasn't for the current situation then Yuri would have laughed, but her body was in so much pain that she couldn't even manage that. It was all she could do to not scream, as she did not want Hotohori to suffer more by hearing her cry.

She continued to keep her eyes on Hotohori, remembering his face so that she would not fail to recognize him when they finally meet again..

Strangely she was no longer afraid of dying at all now, the pain became so great that she welcome an end to it by dying. Her only regret was that she had to leave Hotohori now.

Hotohori was the last sight her eyes saw before they lost their ability of seeing when Seiryuu dug his way through her body, causing her vision to blur so much that nothing was visible anymore.

Seiryuu allowed her to finally find a release from all these pains by dying, then he ate the rest of her corpse. When he stepped out into his human form, there was no trace of Yuri left at all.

Yuri was wise to not let Hotohori see her death, as what the rest saw would haunt them for the rest of their life: the way the body ended up as when the god was borne from it- the flesh was ripped with blood splattering every where. The devouring almost seemed like a mutation of Yuri's corpse.17

"What is it all for?" Hotohori whispered when he finally regained his eyesight. Taking her strand of pearls out he crushed it between his hands and asked why all this had to happen again.

Seiryuu turned to Miaka, who immediately paled slightly. But she met the god's gaze bravely, determined to not shame her dead sister, who was his priestess.

"Priestess of Suzaku, it is my priestess' wish for you to summon Suzaku, and I granted her wish by restoring Suzaku's sacred book to you. Will you summon Suzaku? Or will you let your sister die in vain?"

"I will summon Suzaku." Miaka replied steadily.

At that moment, Hotohori finally saw a resemblance between the pair of half sisters.

* * *

1 I think I will make my warning now, the seven warriors of Seiryuu are coming out but they won't be focused on much, if not at all.

2 I guess Yuri is one of those Japanese people who does not believe in reincarnation- she's not religious at all so I guess it's quite possible that she might just think of death as a long sleep.

3 This is done as otherwise he might recognize Yuri from what he had heard from Hotohori and Miaka. This story has a lot of bit that doesn't make sense if you think about it, so my advise is don't think about this fan fiction in too much detail. I guess I'm saying don't do a 'this should have happened as that happened, or this shouldn't have happened if that never happened.'

Basically, the seven celestial warriors of both side are all alive in this fan fiction, although some are severely injured. (like Nuriko, Chiriko) Basically those who were meant to die are now all just seriously injured.

4 Yuri's not going mad or anything but she is getting a bit hysterical after all that happened, mostly it is due to the knowledge of her going to die soon as the price she must pay for summoning Seiryuu. I think that knowledge is enough to make anyone a bit hysterical.

5 The idea of the selfishness of people who are sacrificing themselves for the sake of another was pointed out to me in Tokyo Babylon (by Clamp) through Seishiro's speech. He has a good point, the sacrificial action at that person's own expense was done because that person believed it would be better for the other person. Basically Yuri knows that her death will make Hotohori really sad, but she rather let him live and be sad, instead of dying happily.

6 Referring to the seven celestial warriors of Seiryuu, who are meant to be protecting their priestess.

7 I don't know what the word they have to say is, so it'll be different. In this story what happens is that Yuri will tell Seiryuu her wish, and then confirms that she want it to be grant after Seiryuu talks to her about it.

8 I don't like Nakago at all even after what happened to him, as I still don't think that is right. But I rather like Soh. I was really touched when I saw her first meeting with Nakago, especially what she said. And another bit in the manga that made me really sad is actually when Nakago told her that she is not the one that he loves.

9 For the sake of this story, there will be a very idealistic new emperor for Kutou.

10 Obviously that is not the real reason in the manga as to why the priestesses have to be virgins because they still get eaten. But I think this idea will fit in my story, since I said at the front: a woman can still be a priestess even if she is not a virgin (like Yuri), the only problem is that she'll get eaten by the god. This is my theory of why this would happen: because she can no longer use her virginity as the offer/sacrifice, she have to give up her body instead- which would kill her. This is what will happen to Yuri and this is why Miaka will not die when she calls out Suzaku (Which she will).

11 From the manga it seemed that Yui was undergoing great pain even in the first few days, and it seems the same thing happened to the first priestess. I get the conclusion that the time frame is really short, it seems that the priestess don't have that long a time before the end up being devoured- even if they didn't make all their wishes- like the very first priestesses.

12 Chichiri seemed to be the one that would understand the most about these kind of stuff along with Hotohori (as he is the emperor). Although Chiriko might be able to help too- provided that the word doesn't disappear a the most vital time.

13 Just in case anyone forgets, Yuri's two maids' father had been a tavern owner, and Yuri had worked in there for a week. The tavern was at a rather bad location, the street it was in was filled with cheap tavern and brothels. Once, Yuri even mentioned how that tavern get mistaken for a brothel sometimes.

14 In my story, Hotohori's twenty, not eighteen. I really do feel that Hotohori will probably get on way more better with the older of the seven: Chichiri and Mitsukake.

15 They all know the legend and what happens to the priestess if she was not a virgin. Since Seiryuu is summoned, and Yuri appears dressed as the priestess of Seiryuu it is clear that she must be the priestess of Seiryuu, and since they are all aware that she had been married to Hotohori for two years, it is obvious to them that she will die. That is why everyone ends up thinking what they thinks.

16 He's basically saying that he want to see her one last time. Even though seeing her die will be painful, he still rather see that as he want to see her until she is gone, until he can no longer see her..

17 When I read about Yui's death I really have the impression that Seiryuu was borne from her body, hince this part in my story.

_

* * *

__**Author's Note: This is the longest chapter I have written through out this whole story. I was actually going to end this chapter with Miaka calling out Suzaku, but as it got so long I decided that I'll do that in the next chapter. I hope everyone enjoy it, and once again, please review! Especially to the people who put my story on their alert list, if it interests you that much that you kind of want to read it as soon as I got some more, then please review. I will truly feel so happy if you do. I think one of the reason that I've been doing so much of this story is that I get these reviews which shows that there are some people who want to read it, so I'm really eager to put more up. And please review, it will make me feel soooo sooooo happy! Please reviewwwwww………**_

_**One more chapter left with an epilogue. (Might end up as two chapters if it gets too long, which might happen). Now that I revealed the big secret, that is what I planned for Yuri to be all along, the priestess of Seiryuu. Although my story changed quite a lot now that I think about it. Initially she only became the priestess of Seiryuu kind of by accident, she was so desperate to save Konan that she came up with the idea of being the priestess of Seiryuu. But after the first chapter I decided that she was meant to be the priestess of Seiryuu all along. That is the main reason of why Yui doesn't come out at all, although initially she was meant to accompany Miaka in Konan. It was also because until a few chapters later, I had the wrong idea about the time thing.**_

_**This is kind of a spoiler so if you don't want to know, then don't read. But I just want to tell you guys that despite what happened, the story will end happily in a happy way, not a sad happy way…am I making sense? Probably not, this is the consequence of staying up the night to write my fan fiction. A big as thank you to ti-fa once more for reviewing Hidden Secrets as soon as I update.**_


	9. Chapter Eight

**_Author's Note: Big thanks to everyone, I don't have much to stay in the beginning of this chapter- I'll say more at the end , as I don't want to give any spoilers away._**

* * *

"As soon as the priestess of Suzaku made her sacrifice, she began to make her three wishes," Yui continued to read the book eagerly.

She did not know Miaka's half sister, it was impossible for her to know about Yuri when Miaka herself didn't even recognize Yuri in the book. But reading about Yuri's death affected Yui deeply, it was because both her and Miaka did not live in a world where death was common or early. As she was also a young girl, Yui was naturally moved to tears by the death of Yuri and the grieving of her husband.

She quickly turned the page, "Her first wish was to have her half sister, the priestess of Seiryuu, back. Upon her rebirth the emperor of Konan immediately went to take her into his arms, vowing to never let go of her again.

"Her second wish was for everyone in Konan, especially the seven celestial warriors, to be happy, while her third wish was for her to be with Tamahome forever.

"Suzaku said that he could only grant the wishes if both the two men who loved the priestesses would go to the world of the priestesses', as that was the only way they could be together. Upon their agreement the others all wished to go with them, so they would all be together…"

"And Suzaku granted everybody's wish." Miaka interrupted, quoting out the last line of the book.

Miaka changed from the young girl whose greatest worry was the entrance exams, and her ultimate happiness was no longer derived from eating. Smiling, Yui saw that her best friend had finally grew up.

"This is the greatest book I have ever read." Miaka said softly, as she took the book from Yui. "I think every thing that I had underwent is worth it."

"Miaka…what about Yuri…"

"My half-sister…my sister is alive," Miaka quickly corrected herself, "Although I don't know where she is right now. Suzaku told me to wait for everyone to come together. He also said that as everyone else are reborn into our world, the memories of their past life are all sealed, and it will only surface when the right time arrives.

"Tamahome and I…we will meet again. Just as Yuri and Hotohori will be together again." Miaka whispered, "I finally understand what real love is, Yui. Through my sister's action, and Hotohori's choice I finally understand. I had been angry at Tamahome so many times but now I love him even more for these actions, because he did all these things in the hope that it will be good for me, although I might not be happy due to his actions."

"Like how Yuri choose to die in order for Hotohori to live. And just like how Hotohori choose to throw everything away in order to be reunited with her."1

The two girls then went back to Miaka's house and spent the rest of the day searching for any traces of Yuri. Much to Miaka's surprise she found many photos of Yuri with her, they had not been there when she first entered the book. Although the elder girl still appeared rather melancholic, she was actually smiling in many of the photos.

In almost all of these photos Yuri's hair was long and up to her waist again, and for most of the time it was tied with a red ribbon, but in some cases she actually used a white ribbon instead.

"Just what are you two doing?" Keisuke muttered as he found the two of them buried in a pool of photos in Miaka's room.

"Trying to find Oneesan!" Miaka regretted her words as soon as she uttered them, her brother would probably have no idea what she meant.

"You mean Yuri? Why are you suddenly calling her Oneesan, instead of neesan. Anyway, here you go." Keisuke rolled his eyes as he scribbled something on a piece of paper and then chucked it to Miaka. "You lost the hospital's address again?"2

"The hospital's address?" Miaka repeated dumbly. "What do you mean, Onichan?"

"Are you getting too stressed with studying?" Keisuke asked curiously. "You should know about Yuri's situation pretty well, since you witnessed her accident and you visit her at least once every month."

"What happened to Miaka's half-sister?" Yui quickly interrupted Miaka, just in case she make any more out of place comments.

"Hasn't Miaka told you? Well, our half-sister got into a car accident about two and half years ago, Miaka happened to be visiting her that day so she saw what had happened. Yuri and Miaka were always quite close, although she is the same age as me…"

"What? Isn't oneesan….I mean neesan, only three years older then me, so therefore two years younger then you?" Miaka burst out again. Now that she thought about it, Suzaku did tell her that many things would be changed slightly, was this one of the changes?

She tried to remember Yuri and a lot of memories rushed to her at once. Sneaking into her half sister's room when her mother was gone; Yuri brushing her hair for her, tying it with her hair ribbons; how she shyly gave her sister a ribbon for her birthday; the hidden note Yuri left for her in the empty room with her new address when she moved out; secretly visiting Yuri in her new 'apartment', and lastly, being the one Yuri chose to spend her eighteenth birthday with- that was the day of the accident…

Miaka could now think of Yuri as a sister who was constantly there, not the shadowy figure she had been before.

"I visit her sometimes but not as often as Miaka, as Miaka is closer to Yuri." Keisuke was explaining to Yui. "But no one knows when Yuri will wake up from her coma."

"Yui, let's go now, I'll take you to my sister!" Miaka felt a slight thrill at calling Yuri her sister in such an affection way, instead of using the more distant phrase.

Watching the quick departure of his sister and her best friend, Keisuke sighed again. Miaka must be suffering from too much pressure due to the exams, it was a shame that Yuri was still in her coma, as the two of them had often discussed their mother's attitude in regard to Miaka's studies. At one occasion, Yuri had even braved his mother's displeasure by attempting to talk to her about Miaka. This was a very brave act as Miaka's mother still hated the mere sight of Yuri as she reminded him of the woman that had almost caused her marriage to end in the very first year.3

Yuri's mother had been a beautiful enchantress, even though she was approaching her mid thirties when she met their father in a bar. He had been suffering regrets in regard to his new marriage and somehow the two of them ended up as lovers, despite the age difference of almost ten years.4

His mother was pregnant first, this made their father realized his folly. But Keisuke often wonder what might have happened if Yuri's mother was pregnant just a few month earlier, that would make Yuri older then him.

It was not unnatural for the eight year old Yuri to be shunned by the rest of the family due to her late mother's action, but somehow Miaka had loved their bastard half sister madly, that was why he was quite surprised that Miaka's best friend didn't seem to know much about Yuri.

While Keisuke and Yuri never really ended up as close brother and sister, they did become rather good friends due to Miaka being their cherished little sister.

* * *

Houki Yuri slept in room 447 with tubes attached to her body to prevent her from falling into a permanent sleep. She had been sleeping for the last two and half years, having had the great misfortune to be hit by a car when she walked out of a shop to meet up with Miaka on her eighteenth birthday.

The nurses that took turn in looking after Yuri were always glad whenever she had visitors, as it was not something that happened often. Because she did not belong to a closely knitted family, or was part of a large group of close friends, her room was usually rather empty from any visitors.

That was why the nurses tried to make-a-do with the rare gifts that she received. The bunch of cranes that her neighbour brought her two years ago still hung above her bed, although most of the originally bright colour cranes faded to a dull white due to being constantly exposed under the sun.

She only had four people who cared about her enough to constantly visit her: her half sister and brother, her neighbour and her landlady.

"Ah, Yuri's little sister." The nurse on duty greeted Miaka cheerfully. "You brought a friend with you today?"

"Yes, Yui's my best friend." Miaka mumbled, slowly approaching the bed.

Suzaku had gave her many happy memories with Yuri but even that along with Yuri's rebirth could not wipe out the horror of her death. Miaka still trembled slightly whenever she recollected what Seiryuu did to her sister, in a way that was also the last time she really saw Yuri.

Then Yuri had been reborn, Miaka could not remember much as Hotohori had immediately clung onto Yuri's body, refusing to let her go again. The way he bent his head down made his loose hair cover up most of Yuri's sleeping form.

Now, Yuri was only a few paces away. Her hair was long and up to her waist, unbound so that it spread across the pillow, some bit touching her dress.

Her night gown was very strange. The overall colour was sky blue with a picture of a blue dragon embroidered on the front. After a guilty look at the nurse, Miaka took Yuri's hand and lifted it up slightly, not enough to cause any shift in the tubes, but raising it sufficiently high to examine the sleeve.

The back of the sleeve showed part of a phoenix's red wing.

"A pretty dress eh? Did you give it to her?" the nurse chatted on, "The back of the gown shows some sort of bird rising out from a fire."

"It shows Suzaku… I mean, it depicts a phoenix." Miaka corrected herself quickly, she must be very careful whenever she speak.

Her sister's face was also older, the body finally caught up with the aging that the mind had.

Kneeling down beside the bed, Miaka held her sister's hand into her's tightly.

"I will try and find Hotohori for you, neesan." She promised the unconscious form. "I want you to wake up and I want to talk to you so much."

* * *

Six months later

_He was having that dream again, the same dream that he would have every year on this particular day.__5_

_As always he was holding onto someone, a woman. She was always unclad and her flesh would be touching his, but strangely she never aroused any lust, instead he just felt a simple relief at having her in his arms. Sometimes he would touch her hair and it felt rather curly._

_Then there would be red lights that filled up the whole room, instead of helping him to see her face, the light actually took her away from him, she would be snatched out of his embrace by someone who he could not see either. The only thing he could make about the other person was that they were surrounded by feathers, as that was what his hands always touched in his attempt of holding onto her._

_He had no idea who she was but it was clear that she must be very important to him, as he felt such sadness and depression when she was taken from him._

"_That was our first parting, but then we'll meet again eternally. I'll still exist. The two of us will always live on in my memory..." she would whisper this out, almost narrating what had happened, as she stood in the shadows a few paces away._6

_Initially he could only make out her silhouette: by this time she would be in a dress with some of her very long hair trailing down, and some of it held up._

_The only difference about his dreams was that as they repeated over the years, he started to see more and more of her at the end of each dream._

_He first saw the hem of her skirt, then he could see most of her dress, the red dress reminded him of the wedding garment the women in his village would wear on the most important day of their life, only that it seemed so much more elaborate then their gown._

_He would always try to grab her hand, but it was always in vain, she would be moving away, giving him only a glimpse of herself._

_Tonight, he finally saw her face._

_For a whole year he had wander whether he could finally discover what she looked like the next time he had this dream, as in his last dream he could see her whole body up to her neck._

_This mysteriously woman had haunted him since his childhood, and he often ended up staring at the girls in the village and wander whether they were that woman, even though he knew she was not in his village, as he would have recognized her at the first sight._

_Maybe that was the reason he was not interested in any girls in the whole twenty one years of his life. If he could see that woman, then maybe he could actually find her, perhaps she was the one he was waiting for._

_When he saw her face he was stunned, it was because she was so beautiful. He was rather vain, almost too vain for a man, even though his vanity could be justified as he was very handsome- he could even be described as beautiful. But this woman was truly the most beautiful being he had ever seen._7

_Automatically he stretched his hand out, much to his surprise he actually managed to clasp her hand into his in this dream tonight._

"_Hotohori," the woman whispered lovingly. This was not his name but it seemed so familiar._

"_Hotohori," she whispered again, "I am waiting for you. Come to me, I can only wake up when you come."_

_Pressing her lips against his she kissed him very passionately._

"_Never forget that I love you! I am yours just as you are mine. Remember our vow and our marriage."_

_Instead of being left with glimpses of her, he woke up with the memory of her kiss, and the weight of her hand in his own hands._

* * *

Rubbing his eyes, Seishuku got up. It took him a few seconds to adjust to his new room, even though by now he had already spent a few weeks here . Somehow he doubt that he could ever get adjusted to being in the city, or stop missing his native village.8

Usually he would wake up and mutter about why he had to come to the city to look after his brother- who was now sixteen. Not that he was not fond of his brother- he loved his brother deeply, but he hated to leave Konan- their village, as he bore an equally strong love for the place he would one day be in charge of. Nor was he fond of the crowded city either.

Today though, he was pondering about his dream too much to start his daily routine by complaining. One could not fully blame him, his sixteen year old brother had never needed his elder brother to look after him, saved for the one time he almost splashed paint onto the statue of the village guardian.

After twenty one years he finally saw her face. He was fully awake now, and therefore more rational. Much as he would like to find her, it was almost impossible as he had no knowledge of her saved for a brief image of her face.

Beside, she might just be a fantasy. But the strange bit was why he would dream about her but remain uninterested in any girls? It was certainly not a vision caused by a lack of female company.

The woman in his dream always made him think of the legend of the forth emperor and empress of Konan. As a little boy, his parents had gave him Konan's legends as his bedtime stories.

Apparently Konan used to be a kingdom, the location, however, was now fully lost, it was a kingdom very similar to ancient China. Apparently a group of people from the kingdom decided to leave and come to Japan instead. Out of homesickness, they named their new village Konan. Many of their village's traditional practices and folk lore did resemble ancient Chinese culture instead of Japanese rituals. One of it was their wedding ceremony- the bride would wear a red dress instead of a kimono, with a red cloth covering her face during part of the ritual.

It was said that the forth emperor of Konan- the country, not the village, loved his empress so much that when she died, he no longer wanted to live. Apparently she loved him as much as he did, as she killed herself to somehow save the kingdom. Konan was in a war against their more powerful neighbour during their reign.

"Did he die and get reunited with her, papa?" he had asked eagerly.

"Who knows? But it is certain that the people of Konan never saw their young emperor again, and his brother took the role of emperor when the forth emperor disappeared."

"I hope they get together." He would always say this at the end of the story.

"I never understand why you are so interested in these old tales." Ju-An, one of his best friends had once remarked out when he found Seishuku reading old scrolls, eagerly attempting to find illustrations of these figures.

* * *

He was now living in a rather small room in an apartment with his brother in the room beside his, and one of his best friends just across the corridor.

On his way to the kitchen, the first thing he saw was the room of his mysterious neighbour. He had been living here for quite some time now but the room across his was permanently dark, and he still hasn't meet the inhabitant yet.

The only thing he knew about his strange neighbour was her name due to the name plague on the door: Houki Yuri.

"A pretty name," was his instant reaction.

"Quite a pretty woman too." Ju-An had replied back casually.

"Morning," Ju-An greeted him cheerfully as he joined Seishuku in the kitchen, his bag was already slung over his shoulder- bulging with his medical textbooks. "How do you find the city now?"

"You know I don't like it." he replied dryly, he would give his brother another five minutes before going to his room to wake him up.

"You really are destined to be the future village leader of Konan. Not just because you are the current village leader's son, but because you truly love our village."

"Most people don't want to leave the village, it is just that I happen to be friends with the two odd people who want to leave." He teased right back.

At this Ju-An laughed good naturedly and shrugged. "I do want to return to the village, but if I want to be a doctor I have to come to study in Tokyo. That's the reason your brother is here too- to obtain a better education. Hojun is the real weird one."9

"You are so lucky that you weren't there on his eighteenth birthday. Everyone thought that he was going to ask her to marry him, but instead he announced that he was going to leave Konan the very next day, and did not know when he would return."

"Was she upset?"

"Of course she was upset, imagine what Shoka felt when you left her. I don't understand you or Hojun, if you have someone that you love so much then how can you ever leave them?"

Ryoen choose to enter at this moment, dragging his school bag behind him. He was wearing the uniform with little grace as he was still struggling to be awake. Seeing his elder brother and Ju-An he mumbled out some sort of reply before he grabbed the mug of coffee Seishuku just made.10

"How is school, Ryoen?" Ju-An asked good naturedly. "Didn't you complain that you were harassed by this girl on your first day?"

"Not really harassment." Much to Ryoen's annoyance a large part of his hair got into his eyes, leaning into the sink, he opened the tap in an attempt to flatten his hair.

Ignoring his elder brother's laughter, of course. When he was younger his hair had been reasonably long, but unlike Seishuku he could not tolerate the teasing of him being like a pretty little girl with lovely long hair at all. Hence his hair ended up very short.

"That girl in my class, Miaka, saw me and she called me Nuriko, then she hugged me. After all that she said it is good that I'm not cross dressing anymore. What kind of persons says that in a first meeting?"

"You become her friend though, along with…"

"And she also calls Dokun Chiriko. She is crazy."

At this moment Dokun entered the kitchen, reminding Ryoen that it was time for then to start walking to school. Dokun was the land lady's son and he had been very happy to become friends with Ryoen. His mother told the two older tenants on this floor that Dokun had few friends because of his rather bookish nature.

"I'm going to be a bit late tonight," Ryoen suddenly remembered. "Miaka, Yui, Dokun and I are going to the cinemas sometime after school today."

"What, a double date?" Seishuku teased him.

"Onichan, if you want to worry about that then worry about yourself first." Ryoen snapped slightly. "And no, I'm not going out with Miaka or Yui! They both have boyfriends from the university."

The two older men chuckled as they waved the two boys off.

"Ryoen has a point you know, you should be getting married soon. In our village, twenty one is a very suitable age for marriage, especially for the village leader's son. I'm surprised that your parents don't pester you at all."

"My father married in his thirties, so he does not mind." This made Seishuku think about the woman in his dreams again. She was the one thing that he hid from both his family and his two best friends. No one could understand these dreams, they would just think that it was caused by the natural desire of a young man.

"I better start heading for work." right now Seishuku was teaching fencing in two high schools. Fencing was one of the traditions the village kept and he had always been the star pupil at that.

"Seishuku, do you want to meet Houki Yuri?" Ju-An suddenly asked.

"Houki Yuri? Our neighbour?"

His friend nodded. "Today is actually her twenty first birthday, ironically it is also the day she got hit by a car three years ago, she is now in a coma, still unconscious. We were friends so I visit her sometimes. She doesn't get much visitors as she was a very close person, and her family situation is quite chaotic. So I was wandering if you will come with me this afternoon…"

Seishuku nodded. "Of course."

The two were just about to leave the building when they were halted by their land lady, who told them that they actually have a phone call.

"He said either Ju-An or Seishuku will be fine so…"

"Thank you." Seishuku said politely to her as Ju-An grabbed the phone.

"Hojun? Hojun! Yes, yes, Seishuku is right beside me. He's fine, so am I, what about you? You are arriving in Tokyo this afternoon? Really? Yes, of course we want to see you!"

"What about our visit to the hospital?" Seishuku reminded him, he actually really want to meet Houki Yuri for some bizarre reason.

"Oh Hojun, we have to go to the hospital first, so do you mind coming with us? Who we are visiting? A friend of mine, our neighbour actually. Yes, oh I see…alright, I'll see you soon then."

Putting the phone down he let out a long sigh before declaring: "Seems that the three of us are going to meet up again. It has been very long since we three last talked together face to face."

"The last time was when we said good bye to you at the train station about six years ago, since you only returned after high school finished, and at that time Hojun already left for his 'wandering'."

* * *

Miaka was trying to wrap the dress up rather unsuccessfully, eventually Yui sighed and took the wrapping paper to do it for her.

"Shall I just leave this beside her bed?" Miaka asked Yui. "It does feel kind of weird to give a present to someone who wouldn't be able to open it for sometime."

"Is that for Taka?" Ryoen asked as he sat down beside her.

"Why will I give Taka a dress?" Miaka snorted. "It's for my sister, today is her twenty first birthday."

"You have a sister? I thought you only have a brother." Dokun pointed out.

"Well, half-sister, and she is actually in hospital as she's in a coma." Miaka said sadly.

"Can we come with you?" Ryoen asked. "My mother always tell me that even if a person doesn't know that you visit them when they are sick or unconscious, their spirit can still appreciate your action."

Smiling a bit, Miaka nodded.

* * *

Keisuki was in the library, busily studying for a test that would start in a few hours when he suddenly remembered what the day was. It was Yuri's birthday, and it also marked the end to the third year that she spent in the hospital in her coma.

There was no way that he could visit her before the hospital close but if he didn't do anything he would feel very guilty, and Miaka would also kill him when she find out.

The best way would be for someone to go instead of him. Normally he would ask Tetsuya, but he was doing the same test. As if it was fate, two figures walked into the library, one trying to make the other lower his voice.

"Taka!"

"No, I am not going to lend you any money until you return the amount you borrowed from me a week ago." Taka said by instinct.

Beside him, his cousin Genro rolled his eyes. It only took the rest of the university a few weeks to find out about his cousin's obsession with money and come up with the nickname of "The twenty-four hour Bank".11

"As if Genro is better, Shunu?" Taka shot back at once.

"I'm not trying to get any money from you, I'm even giving your money…" Keisuke's words trailed off at the sight of Taka, who took out his calculator and began to jab the buttons madly.

As usual Genro punched him.

"I'm not returning what I borrowed just yet. Can you two buy some flowers and visit the hospital for me? I've got the details on this paper. Basically it's my sister's birthday but she is in hospital so…"

"Miaka is sick?" Genro asked in great concern.

Beside them Taka nodded to himself, so Yuri was still unconscious. Unlike the rest of the six celestial warriors, he had both his current and past life's memory. The moment he saw Miaka, the memories of his past life broke free from their seal.

The first thing he did was to start laughing as he thought about how Taisuki became his cousin and best friend. He was glad of it but it was just something the old Tamahome would never have expected.

"No, my half sister. Yuri…"

"Don't worry, Keisuke, we'll go." Like Miaka, he held onto the belief that Yuri might be able to arouse some memories of the others' past life.

The seven celestial warriors were finally going to be gathered together again, and Hotohori- now Seishuku, would be reunited with Yuri at last.

* * *

"To see Houki Yuri? You are the third group today," the nurse at the reception laughed out.

"Who else came?" Ju-An asked curiously, "Her sister and brother?"

"Her sister did with her friends," the nurse said, scanning the record. "Her brother couldn't come but he sent his friends on behalf of him with flowers. So, what is your relationship with Houki Yuri?"

"I'm her neighbour and these two are my friends." Ju-An explained.

Seishuku was staring at one of the plants when he suddenly turned due to his friends yelling his name. This sharp turn resulted in him bumping into a nurse, causing her whole file to tumble down.

"I am so sorry," he muttered as he bent down to start picking up all the scattered paper. "Ju-An, Hojun, I'll catch up with you guys later."

"Room 477!" Ju-An said as he and Hojun continued to make their way down the corridor.

* * *

"Chi…" Miaka quickly swallowed back her words, she must remember that her friends were no longer using the name they had as the seven celestial warriors of Suzaku, instead, some of them were using their real name, which she did not really know as she never called them that.

"Ju-An, what are you doing here?" Ryoen quickly asked. "And Hojun, you are here as well? I thought you are in China or something?"12

"My ship came back to Japan a few days ago." Hojun quickly explained. "I'm here as Ju-An and Seishuku are visiting their neibour…"13

Seishuku? Could he be Hotohori, Miaka thought eagerly, as Hotohori was the only one missing, everyone else had arrived. If he really was Hotohori then Yuri might finally be able to wake up.

"Where is he?" she quickly asked. "This missing person?"

Seishuku chose to arrive at this very moment. At first he only showed mild surprise at the sight of his younger brother. But then his gaze fall unto the sleeping figure.

"Yuri?" he whispered.

She was the very same woman from his dreams.14

* * *

1 By choosing to be reborn into Miaka and Yuri's world Hotohori is obviously giving up his kingdom, but it isn't that bad as he has participated in the event that will ensure Konan to continue be in peace for a very long time. I'm not sure whether I'll be showing about what they each said in regard to making their choice so basically in my story, Hotohori could be reborn into this world without being in great guilt as Suzaku told him that one of his brothers would be the emperor with his death, and he would be a fair ruler like Hotohori too.

2 According to the site that I used neesan is the more affectionate term for elder sister.

3 Even though Yuri didn't age physically in Konan, she would have grew old mentally by two years, so this is why she is now five years older then Miaka, instead of two. Subconsciously Miaka wished to also be able to be closer to Yuri- as that is a form of making her happy Suzaku allowed this, so he basically changed some of the past.

4 Yuri's mother is actually the older one in the relationship/affair.

5 Depsite being in italic, this bit is not a flashback, but it is a dream.

6 This is from Hotohori's character song: Sadame no hoshi, as I mentioned in the front, I love this song so I naturally tried to use part of it in my fan fiction.

7 As I said in the front, Yuri is rather pretty but she's not the new Helen of Troy or anything, most people would probably just think of her as a rather pretty girl. She wouldn't cause anyone to stare at her and bump into a wall or anything dramatic. Whenever I start to describe her as being very beautiful or like impossibly beautiful, it means that I'm actually showing Hotohori's point of view, what he is thinking- he loves her so he regard her beautiful to the extreme.

8 I spent quite a long time debating whether I should call the seven celestial warriors by their real name or by the name they have in their role of the celestial warriors. Originally I was still going to use their name as the warriors, but then I thought since Tamahome becomes Taka I might as well give everyone their real name, the only problem is that I'll have to start calling everyone a different name.  Anyway, thank goodness for Winkipedia, otherwise I'll never know everyone's real name- my copy of Fushigi Yugi is in Chinese so… But the thing is some English copies don't actually give every one's name in Romanji, but ironically they give it spelt out in the Chinese pronunciation, which is kind of funny, rather ironic. Like Konan should be Konan in romanji, but in the copy of Fushigi Yugi in English that I got out from the library they always refer to Konan as Hong-Nan. That's why I actually use Tai Yi-Jun as when I got to the bit of her appearance, I just copied the name from the manga I got out. But any way, this is the list of every one's real first name, in romanji. Their name as a warrior is the first one. I'm just a bit unsure about Hotohori's real name- as I said the Chinese version translates Hotohori and Seishuku into the same thing.

Hotohori Seishuku

Tamahome Taka (apparently this isn't his real name though, but since it became his real name…)

Nuriko Ryoen

Chichiri Hojun

Taisuki Shunu (also known as Genro)

Mitsukake Ju-An

Chiriko Dokun

9 In their new life Hotohori, Mitsukake and Chichiri are best friends, I did this because as I said in my last chapter, I always think that Hotohori will be able to get on more well with the two oldest warriors.

10 Ha, it is truly fun to write about them in the 20th century sense, so that's why I probably get quite carried away. It's fun as every thing is much more light hearted. Yes, I decided to make Nuriko Hotohori's brother, and I actually decided to make Nuriko into a boy- well the boy that he would have been if his sister didn't die. It is really tempting to make him into a girl but then I think about how he actually kind of re-discovered himself and abandoned his sister's shadow, it just seemed bit mean to let him be reborn as a girl. So he and Hotohori become brothers when they got reincarnated, as that was kind of the only possible way for Nuriko to love Hotohori naturally, and get that love returned.

11 I thought it is so cute how Taisuki and Tamahome become such great friends by the end of Fushigi Yugi, so I want to do this. Making them into cousins and old friends where they can basically continue their banters and all that.

12 Technically Nuriko/Ryoen should not be calling him his name, at the very least he would have to add elder brother at the end. It's just a Japanese and Chinese thing, it really annoys me though. I'm Chinese by birth but I live in New Zealand now, I've been in NZ since I was quite young so it just really annoys that I can't even call my elder sister by her name because of this tradition, I had to call her by her title of elder sister. Sometimes this really pisses me off as it's like a way of controlling the younger siblings.

13 Chichiri/Hojun is traveling across the world by doing random jobs.

* * *

_**Author's Note: the conclusion I made as I finish typing this is that I got too carried away as I wrote about the seven celestial warrior's new life. So it seems that this chapter got conveyed into my usual length although half of it is blabbing, but I'm sorry…it was really fun doing this. Since this chapter is pretty long- at the very least it's long enough, I'll require another chapter before the epilogue. Word of warning though, Hotohori/Seishuku (I am so not getting used to using their real name) just met Yuri and so the next chapter will consists a whole bunch of flashbacks although it will be modified slightly so it's not just copy and paste chapter one, copy and paste prologue etc. But please continue to read and review, and as I promised: this story will have a happy ending.**_


	10. Chapter Nine

**_Author's Note: As Hotohori/Seishuku walks to Yuri he is basically recollecting many of their past meetings, most of it is probably taken from the first two chapters, some events were from Yuri's view so this chapter shows these event from his point of view. If you can't be bothered to read the flashbacks then just jump to end and count up and read from the non-italic part. As it is flashback to the time when he was Hotohori I'll be using Hotohori's name for a while, instead of Seishuku. Lastly, the flashbacks are not really connected either._**

* * *

"Yuri?" Seishuku whispered, staring at the sleeping form of the woman on the bed.

He began to take the first step towards her…

* * *

"_My name is Houki Yuri," she said as she stood in front of him as the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her lovely eyes made him felt as if he was drowning, he immediately wanted to know all about her…and he wanted to always have him beside her._

_He would make her his empress._

"_I desire you to be my empress, but I will only wed you if you wish to be my bride. I wish to have your love" He told her. Taking her hand he raised it to his lips, kissing it lovingly, even though she was staring at him in what might be bewilderment and shock. _

_Frowning slightly she asked him how he could love her when they only just met. He did not know then…he still did not know even now._

* * *

_Unknown to her he stood at the doorway of her chambers for a very long time, taking delight in watching her. She pulled her hair ribbon off and her hair fall down in masses of raven curls up to her waist, he longed to run his fingers through them, and kiss each single strand._

_Suddenly she started to cry, he quickly made his presence known, hoping to comfort her. He would have took her into his arms immediately if it wasn't for the fear of scaring her. He could tell that she was crying just then as her lovely eyes were slightly red._

_She began to cry even as he held her in his arms and muttered soothingly to her, not knowing what to do he carried her in his arms and laid her down on her bed, placing her head in his lap. He wished that he knew how to comfort her. _

* * *

"_I want to start a new life. A life with you." She whispered shyly, tilting her head up she kissed him before she continued speaking what was the happiest words he had ever heard in his whole life. "I am ready to start a new life, I believe I love you, and I know that you will always love me_."

_He returned her embrace and kiss eagerly, almost not believing that this was coming true. It seemed that Suzaku had finally answered his prayer, he was finally loved by Yuri, he would no longer be lonely again as she would always be there._

_She carried the bunch of lilies he just gave her as if it was rich jewelleries due to the way she carefully held them. The lilies were only put down when he loosened her dress and carried her to his bed. There they whispered their love again, even as they loved each other physically._

* * *

_In front of the statue of Suzaku, she was praying with her eyes tightly shut and her hands pressed together, looking at her made him smiled as she seemed like a little girl. As a child he had thought that the priestess of Suzaku would be the one to save him, he had never been more glad to be wrong, as he was convinced that no other woman could be more perfect then the woman about to be his empress._

_In the very next day she stood beside him as his empress, he was so happy as he announced this to the whole kingdom. She certainly looked like an empress as well, she wore the fine wedding gown regally and the strand of pearls she wove into her hair resembled a crown._

_Yet their life did not remain perfect as he had foolishly expected on their wedding day. The problem of a war worried him deeply as he was afraid that she would be in danger, and somehow she was still not pregnant after two years of marriage. Unfortunately for them, his advisors saw two years as a long enough time._

* * *

_She knelt in front of the statue again, once again- she did not realize just how long he was looking at her in secret. He saw that she was crying, and even if she was not crying in front of him he could still realize that as he loved her so much._

_He too, had started to pray to Suzaku again. He wanted Yuri to laugh and be happy… Not for the first time, he wished that he was not the emperor of Konan, and then he and Yuri could live their life in happiness by spending their days with each other's company, instead of only at the evenings, or at rare afternoons when he was free._

* * *

_Whenever he could he would spend his times with her. He taught her how to use a sword because he wanted her to be able to defend herself, even she was the empress and therefore constantly surrounded by guards. She had been an excellent pupil, but he still felt a slight bit of regret when he stroked her fingers after their practises and sees the scars that were caused by this._

_He also taught her how to write, it was a most enjoyable tuition as he could use this as an opportunity to hold her hand. The first thing she asked him to each her was his name. In one of the lessons he had wrote out a poem on the new fan that he gave her, she had rewarded him with a kiss and from that day on, she rarely used any other fans._

"_In the heavens, the stars are twinkling. In the ground, the flowers are blooming. And now, in my universe, my love for you is shining. It won't stop. It won't be stopped. Love, like breathing, is irreplaceable. I'm glad I was born, because I exist for you. I have only one wish: your happiness"_1

_That was his promise to her, that he would always love her._

* * *

_When he heard that she fainted he rushed out of the court at once. Seeing her lying there unconscious had made him so afraid as for the first time, he thought of the possibility of her dying. What would he do when that hateful day come? It was selfish but he hoped that he would die before her, as he could not be able to live if she was gone from his side even if she only left after being married to him for years, and even decades._

* * *

_Whenever she cries he wished for nothing but the power to stop her tears, he could not bear to see her cry and it caused him so much pain. Upon her cries he abandoned his question and embraced her instead. He would figure out why Yuri seemed to be so hostile to the Suzaku priestess later._

* * *

_He had spent many times watching her sleep, he often wake up before her, and he would held her against him tightly as he gazed at her sleeping form. In these occasions he would always offer his gratitude to Suzaku for brining Yuri to him. Sometimes she would be asleep before he finished the business of the state, at these times he would take to her bed and laid her down, gently untying her hair. Content to just watch her._

* * *

"_Promise me that you wouldn't leave me, then I will sleep." He had insisted, even though she was lying right beside him, enfolded in his arms, he had a feeling that she would be gone from him when he woke up. That was why he didn't want to close his eyes._

"_I promise I'll be there." She said, and bent down to kiss him again. "I really love you, Hotohori."_

* * *

_When she was gone everything seemed to empty again, it was worse then his previous years of loneliness before he met her, as now he knew what happiness and pure joy felt like. He never abandoned his duty as the emperor but he would be haunted by the shadows of his memories._

_Yuri was the person who made his life the best that it could be, that was why he held onto her so much. If she could not be with him at his sides, then he rather clings onto her memories instead of having nothing._

* * *

_When they found what they believed to be the seventh celestial warrior of Suzaku he was overjoyed because it meant that Suzaku would be summoned, and Konan would be safe. But his ultimate pleasure came from the fact that he would be with Yuri again, and life would be easier for them._

_He dreamt of having children with her, as a ruler he naturally had to have sons, but he greatly desired for a daughter, as he wanted a little girl who would grew up to be exactly like her mother. He could already imagine the pleasure they would have with their children._

"_And then it will all be over, and then it can all be put aside: the self-accusations, worrying about the country, and the days of regret and sorrow…"_2

* * *

_After all what seemed like such a long time of separation she was finally there again. But she was very different from the woman who was his empress. Usually she would be dressed in red, as that was Konan's national colour, as well as the colour he often wore. Thus, being the empress of Konan, red was the most common colour in her wardrobe._

_Her lovely hair reached up to her waist and she usually tied the upper half up with ribbons or the strand of pearls he had gave her on the eve of their wedding. Sometimes she would hold all of her hair up with the headdresses that numerous past empresses of Konan had wore, almost all of them was decorated with the motif of Suzaku._

_Now she was now dressed in the robe that the priestess of Seiryuu would wear, she was wearing blue instead of red. Most all her long hair was gone. It was only up to her shoulder now and it was twisted around a headdress in the shape of Seiryuu's original form._

_But it didn't matter to him at all. No matter what she did or would do, regardless of who she became, she was still Houki Yuri, therefore she was his beloved empress, the one he loved most in the whole universe._

_The most ironic thing was that she did everything for him, as she loved him equally much. Like him, she rather be selfish and die instead of seeing him die, even though she knew what sorrow he would suffer for the rest of his life._

_He held onto her and refused to let her go, he could not bear to let her go. It didn't matter that it was fate or the will of the gods he would never let him go away from him willingly._

"_Then take me with you!" he offered. He was an emperor with a kingdom to look after, but he simply couldn't let Yuri leave s she was more important then that kingdom. If Konan was gone, he would be in pain as it was his duty to protect the kingdom and it's people, but he would continue to live, and even create plans to rebuilt his country. But if Yuri was gone from him…he did not know he could manage to continue living._

_It was unreasonable for him to do that, and he was not unaware of his duty. But how could he even think about his kingdom when what was dearest to his heart was going to be gone from him forever? She was his will to live._

_The darkness snatched her out of his arms, he could not see but she left his grip as he felt her moving away from him, going to her own death. Some one was screaming in horror and it was clear that her death must have been painful. But she never once made any sounds, he knew that this was because of him._

_Tears were streaking down his cheeks, even thought her death was horrible he still rather see her a last time, he would brave these sights because he wanted to see her until he really could no longer see her._

_Seiryuu still kept his promise to his priestess, as he still did not let Hotohori see Yuri's death even though it didn't really matter anymore._

"_That was our first parting, but then we'll meet again eternally. I'll still exist. The two of us will always live on in my memory..."_3

* * *

He finally reached her bedside, kneeling down he grasped her hand tightly into his. Ignoring everyone else, who- with the exception of Miaka, Taka and Yui, were all staring at him very strangely.

"Yuri," he whispered, this time his voce was full of emotions as he remembered everything from his past life as Hotohori, Emperor Saihi of Konan, and she had been Empress Houki, his beloved wife. Fate teased them by making her into the priestess of Seiryuu.

They were forced to part because they were from two different worlds, then Suzaku gave this chance for them to be together. He was now in her world and he would never regret giving up his kingdom for her. Konan was left in good hands, so he could pursue his own desires, instead of his people.

All he ever truly desired was to be with Yuri forever when she told him that she loved him back, surely there was nothing that could prevent them from being together again.

She was in a coma because she was waiting for him to come and wake her up.

"Yuri," he whispered again. "Wake up! I am here now, I finally found you, so wake up!"

He began to cry as he called out her name again, she had died for him, and willingly underwent that hellish pain, it was all because she wanted him to live.

"Yuri, please! Return to me!"

Her fingers moved slightly and her hand slowly shook a bit. Bending down Seishuku…Hotohori began to whisper to her again, raising her hand to his lips as he had done when they first met.

Her eyes opened and she immediately sat up, this violent gesture caused the lines and tubes to be tore off from her body but that didn't matter anymore, she no longer need them.

Yuri turned to Seishuku and upon seeing him, she threw her arms around him, and he held her against him tightly, whispering her name and stroking her hair.

"Hotohori, you finally came." She sobbed out. "I'll never leave you again, I promise."

"Hotohori?" Ryoen repeated this strange name in confusion. He had never seen this woman before and he was sure that his elder brother never have either. Yet the two of them were holding onto each other as if they were long lost lovers who were finally reunited.

"Seishuku…what…" Ju-An was trying to not splutter due to the bewilderment they all felt. Seishuku had told him that he never knew who their neighbour was, but what he said to her was full of implication that not only did he know Houki Yuri, they also shared a very intimate relationship.

"Seishuku? Is that your name now, Hotohori?" Yuri asked. "It is quite strange for me to call you that, but I think I can get use to it."

How strange it was to see him dressed in the cloth of the twenty first century…her old world, she would have willingly spent the rest of her life in Konan if it was possible. By the end of her life she still regarded Konan as her adopted country, and referred to this world as her old world.

He was in a pair of faded grey jeans with a very simple white shirt, the neckline slightly decorated by a bit of embroidery. That would be something she must adjust to, like his name. She was so used to seeing him wear the elaborate garments of an emperor, and the simpler peasant's outfit he would wear when he was teaching her swordplay was still very different from his current outfit.4

"I am still the same person, just as you never changed, even when you became the priestess of Seiryuu. Yuri, we must marry immediately so we will be regarded as married in this world as well." Seishuku said rather practically after another kiss.

At this Yuri laughed and nestled closer to him, ignoring everyone else.

"You always have a strange way of proposal. Yes, I will marry you, although I regard us as already married."

Right now the two of them did not care about anyone else at all, the only thing that mattered to them was that they were together again after everything that had happened.

Bending down Seishuku kissed her again.

"This time, I swear I will never be parted from you ever again."

* * *

1 Just reminding every one that this is from a Hotohori character song. This is basically my disclaimer. Not my property so don't sue me.

2 Another disclaimer

3 Another disclaimer

4 I have this random picture of Hotohori and Nuriko that I found from the internet- I think it's the cover of maybe their character song or something, but what really interested me about the picture is that they were both wearing modern clothings. Hotohori was basically wearing what I just described in above, while Nuriko was wearing a yellow blouse with dark red pants. By the way page 49 in volume seven shows a picture of all seven of the celestial warriors of Suzaku in modern clothing, posing in front of a car. And I once saw this picture of Hotohori and Miaka, with Hotohori wearing a long brown modern coat.

* * *

**_Author's Note: This is my shortest chapter by far, but as I said it is basically a flashback as Hotohori/Seishuku is regaining the memories of his past life. The story is practically finished as Yuri and Hotohori got together, but there will be an epilogue, which is just tying up the loose end even more. I don't think the epilogue will be long so yeah. Should be up soon, then the story would be officially finished._**

**_This is what I meant by a happy happy ending. Because even if she stayed in Konan with him, there would always be the problem of him being the emperor. He could never spend that much time with her as he would like, and no matter what Miaka would not be staying in the universe of the four god. That is why I think the happiest ending for their story is when Hotohori become someone in her world, he is no longer an emperor so he can spend most of his time with her, and she is now truly his first piority._**

**_As always I hope that some people find it enjoyable at the very least, that's kind of good enough. And please review! Thank you very much!_**


	11. Epilogue

**_Author's Note: Ok, this is it. This is the epilogue for my story which means my story is now officially finished, completed. So this is the last chance to submit another review…just kidding! But I would love reviews so please give me some! The next chapter is just my random comments and my overall feelings in regard to my fan fiction, so don't read it if you can't be bothered because it is not part of my fan fiction, it is not part of the story, just my own report._**

* * *

The village of Konan was very isolated from the rest of civilization. In order to get there, one had to first take a train ride of two days from Tokyo, and once at the train station of the closest town, they would be met with the cart from the village, which they would ride for about an hour before they finally arrive at their destination.

It was rare for Konan's inhabitant to leave the village even on a semi permanent base like Ju-An and Ryoen for the sake of further education. Sometimes villagers might go into the town but it was not a common event, as the villagers were self sufficient in growing their own resources. There was only one phone in the village, and that was at the leader's house for emergency and urgent news.

Three months ago the village received their biggest news of the year: Seishuku, the village leader's elder son, was engaged a few weeks after his arrival in Tokyo and planed to get marry as soon as he could.

Not much was known about his future bride, other then her name, and the fact that the marriage was delayed because she was still recovering from an accident, so she was still in hospital, where she met Seishuku.

That was why the driver of the cart today was the village leader, with his wife accompanying him. They were both very eager to meet their soon to be their daughter in law. They loved both of their sons greatly, and they had been a bit worried at Seishuku who never showed any interest in girls, that was why they were overjoyed at the news of his engagement.

"What are your parents like, Hotohori…I mean, Seishuku." Yuri quickly corrected herself.

"We can just say that Hotohori is your nickname for me." Seishuku said cheerfully, now that he remembered his past life, both names were equally familiar to him, although he preferred the name Hotohori more then Seishuku right now, as that was what Yuri had called him most of the time.

He was truly grateful to be reborn into a life where he was free from the large amount of responsibility that he had as the emperor.

"My parents? I don't really know if my parents as Seishuku are what Hotohori's parents might have been if they were just ordinary people." he began, but was interrupted by the appearance of the cart with his parents on it.

"Seishuku, where is she?" his father called out even before they reached them. "Where is our future daughter?"

"Papa, you are more happy to see her then your own son?" he protested playfully, laughing he swept up Yuri into his arms and ran to the cart, carrying her. "Here she is, your beautiful new daughter!"

Yuri spent the last three months recovering, as she had been in a coma for three years her leg became rather weak due to the lack of use. Seishuku would arrive as soon as the hospital opened, and spend all his time with her until he had to go work, then he would rush here as soon as he finished, and stayed until the hospital close.

With his help, holding her as she began to walk again, she managed to recover completely and be allowed to be discharged from the hospital in three months' time.1

During this time Seishuku told her many thing of his new life, and he assured her that he was so much more happy living as Seishuku, a son of the village leader of a rather small village, instead of Hotohori, the emperor of a vast kingdom.

"This means that I can spend most of my time with you." He had said happily, stroking her hair. "And I no longer have to worry about a kingdom anymore. I can just focus on you completely.

He also sent the news of their engagement to his village, so they could start preparing for the wedding. Strangely, the wedding date was set on one week after the day she left the hospital. The total time between their reunion in the hospital and their wedding, was the exact same amount of the time that had lapsed between Hotohori's first meeting with Yuri and their elaborate wedding.

There was one thing she didn't ask him yet, and that was what his parents were like. Even though Yuri regarded them as already married she still wanted to have the ceremony held as quick as possible, so everyone else would see them as married. Therefore she had been rather worried at whether his parents would allow their son to marry a woman whom to them, he only just met.

Nuriko…no, Ryoen clearly thought that his brother was bewitched. Likewise, Ju-An and Hojen were both shocked at their friend's engagement. Not that they were condemning her, but she wished that they would stop looking at the two of them strangely.

Their main consol was that one day, hopefully soon, the memories of being Nuriko, Mitsukake and Chichiri would surface.

Seishuku's parents were certainly not what she expected, but then she was thinking of the parents he had as Hotohori, a distant father bound by his duty, and a mother who was obsessed with keeping her power.

The village leader was in his late fifties, his hair was a hard grey but apart from that there were no more obvious signs that betrayed his age. He still seemed rather strong and he was controlling the two horses with minimum effort. Even though he was the village leader who was held with great respect and reverence in Konan, he appeared just like anyone else in the village with no hint of any airs.

Beside him was the most important woman in the village, his wife. She was only in her early forties, being seventeen years younger then her husband. Unlike Hotohori's mother she was very friendly and open.

Perhaps the main difference was that both loved their sons and showed the love openly. Jumping down from the cart Seishuku's father immediately gave Yuri a hug and a loud kiss on her cheeks.

"We are very expressive in Konan." He said with a wink at Seishuku.

"My son certainly chose a very pretty bride." Seishuku's mother said, bidding Yuri to sit beside her. Once Yuri did so she took Yuri's hand and began to speak to her very affectionately.

"Are you ready to live in the village for the rest of your life, my dear?"

Yuri nodded. "I just want to be with Hotohori, and I think I will like the village."

"Then we consider you as a very suitable bride for our son."

* * *

The journey back to the village was very pleasant, the family all began to tell Yuri about the nature of their village, and about the upcoming wedding.

Much to Yuri's shock the whole village had assembled at the gate, eager to meet their future village leader's bride to be. All of this took her back to the time she had spent in the universe of the four gods once more. Rows and rows of people beside the street, throwing flowers at their new empress. She waved at them, still in daze at her new position…

"Yuri, the village seamstress is waiting for us in your future home." Seishuku's mother announced, dragging her back into the real world. "We have to assure that your wedding gown fits."

"And Seishuku, come with me to pick the jewellery for Yuri." The village leader said.

"When the village leader or his heir marries, he has the right to pick of the three jewelleries in Konan to give to his future bride. She would have the right to wear them until she die." Raising her hand the village leader's wife showed Yuri the ruby decorated gold bangle on her wrist. "This is the jewellery my husband chose for me."

The wedding garment of Konan was of the ultimate importance as it was also their funeral gown. Looking at her new reflection in the mirror, it was if she was going back through time.

Her wedding gown seemed identical to the one she had worn the day she became empress. Obviously, the material of this dress was not as fine as the other one, but the style and the embroidery looked completely similar.

"It is such a beautiful dress." she finally said.

"A bride looks beautiful in whatever she wears." The seamstress said sagely, "Every single wedding gown in this village is made by my family."

"As I said, my son certainly chose a very beautiful bride!" her future mother in law said again, smiling with true affection at Yuri.

"I have something I must ask you, and I wish for you to tell the truth." Yuri began nervously, her gaze slipping down so they ended up staring at the hem of the richly pattered dress. "Are you truly happy with his choice? After all, it is a very quick wedding and an even quicker engagement. I know that is what his brothers and friends all think. But I truly love your son and I…"

Smiling warmly, her future mother in law placed her hand on Yuri's chin and titled it so that Yuri ended up looking right at her.

"I am very happy for my son. I also understand why you are afraid of other's disapproval, as we live in a time when we are expected to know our future partner for sometime before we marry them, perhaps it is worse outside Konan, as one reached to the stage that they simply expect their first relationship to fail as few people end up marrying their first lover.

"When I first met my husband I was fifteen, while he was thirty two. It was at one of the festivals and that was the first time I actually met him properly, we danced together and by the end of the dance we know that we want to marry.

"I believe strongly that you are able to recognize the one that you will love forever when you see them. I certainly did, and I believe you and Seishuku have recognized that in each other."

Smiling with tears threatening to fall, Yuri nodded.

"Now, this gown…" her future mother in law began practically, after giving Yuri an loving pat on the head, making Yuri thought of her two maids with a slight sadness, although she knew they should be able to seek their own happiness. "I think the hem might be a bit too tight here."

"It is best for her to walk around a bit then." The seamstress suggested.

Doing so she ended up in the gathering hall of the village. Right in the very end, against one wall, was the statue of Suzaku, identical to the one that she prayed in front of for many days in Hotohori's palace.

"Suzaku…" Yuri whispered out in wonder as she knelt in front of the statue.

"Has Seishuku been telling you about the many legends we have in this village?" the voice of her future father in law said as he approached her. "This is our village guardian."

"Yes, papa, I have been telling her about Konan's legends." Seishuku said, this was not untrue, as when he was Hotohori, he had told Yuri many of Konan's stories.

Seeing Yuri he choked, if her hair wasn't untied, then he would have wonder whether he was dreaming again, as she was dressed in the very same way she had the day he made her into his empress in the kingdom of Konan.

"You look so beautiful…" he quickly said, using that as an excuse.

Smiling, his parents excused themselves to let the two of them be alone. As soon as this happened Seishuku went up to Yuri and took her into his arms again.

"Isn't it strange how everything is the same as it was?" he whispered softly.

"Only that we will be happy for the rest of our life." Yuri corrected him. "You are not an emperor, and neither Seiryuu nor Suzaku have anymore claim on us."

Nodding he pulled her closer for another kiss, then he took her hand and put something on her palm.

Looking down Yuri gasped slightly, in her hand was a strand of pearls.

"This is actually one of the village's treasures." He told her. "When I saw it, I thought this would be the most suitable thing to give you."

Suddenly he was a bit afraid, was it possible that this was another trick that fate or the gods were playing? If everything was so similar then was it possible that they would have to suffer again? He could not go through what he underwent as Hotohori when Yuri left him.

He did not see her death but the memory of her death still brought tears to his eyes, along with an unbearable sadness, even when he woke up with her sleeping against him.

Watching him, Yuri realized what he must be thinking. Then she would tell him her news now, instead of at their wedding night as she had originally planned. Grabbing his hand she pressed it against her abdomen.

"Can you feel anything, Seishuku?" she asked with a huge smile on her face.

Bewildered, he shook his head.

Cupping his face with one hand, while the other rested on his shoulders she gently guided his body to move so that he ended up keeling in front of her with his ear resting where his hand had previously been.

"Can you hear anything then?"

Once again, he shook his head.

She leant down to whisper right in his ear.

"I am pregnant."

"What!" at this he quickly pulled himself up, for a long time he just stood there and stared at her. Then he finally whispered: "Is…is that really true?"

She nodded, "I think our child will be a month old now. I noticed that everything seemed to be repeating too, but I don't think it is because we are going to relive everything, including our suffering and parting. I think it happens because we are having the second chance of living our life without the approaching tragedy. We are living the way our life should have been if we were from the same world."

Half laughing, half sobbing he embraced her tightly, then put his hand on her abdomen again. He was not certain but he swore that the statue of Suzaku seemed to be smiling at them.

He strongly believed…no, he knew that Yuri was right, they would be able to live the rest of their life in happiness.

* * *

1 I don't really know if it really would take three months for Yuri to be completely recovered, it sounds quite long but I want the time to be thee months so…maybe her body was a bit weak so it would take her pretty long to recover.

* * *

_**Author's Note: Wow…I finally officially finished this story. The epilogue is not really necessary but I just wanted to have it anyway. I guess I just kind of want to emphasize that they are now truly going to live happily ever after. The reason that why there is such a sense of deja-vu is because that in this life (Yuri's resurrection and Hotohori's reincarnation shows what their life could/should be if they were not in the position that they had been in (being in 2 different words and him being the emperor). It is as Yuri said, and in this fan fiction they will get to live happily ever after. **_

_**I hope everyone who read this have enjoyed it, I certainly had great fun writing it. This is the last time I will ask this, so please bear with me for a last time, but please review! This is truly the last time.**_

_**A big thank you to anyone that read this, no matter how much, and a bigger thank you to whoever that reviewed my story.**_


	12. Author's random comments

So my fan fiction is now officially finished. I guess I just put this up as I feel like it. This is basically my thoughts and all that in regard to this fan fiction, and a bit of my own view in regard to Fushigi Yugi. I just finished cheeking my epilogue and it is pretty late right now, so it will be pretty messy.

Word of warning now: it is very random, very long, and rather pointless most of the time, though it does contain some explanations of how my story ended up the way it is. But basically: read at your own risk of being bored.  Don't say I didn't warn you that it is not important!

I managed to obtain Fushigi Yugi from my sister's friend, and when I start to read it I just got really hooked into it that I finished the whole thing in one day. I think the main reason is that I really wanted to read a romance, and Fushigi Yugi just had it. Miaka and Tamahome's romance did really touch me, and I ended up really eager in wanting to find out what was going to happen.

My favourite character is Hotohori the moment he comes out. He truly is one of the most beautiful drawn manga character that I have ever seen (and I have a thing for guys with long hair- even in manga world it seems!). But what really touches me is Hotohori's character. The way he loves Miaka in an unrequited fashion but remains in love with her even though he knows he has no chance. When I read his love declarations to Miaka I was just so touched! It's the cases of taking out the boxes of tissues.

As I said in the very beginning of my fan fiction, judging from the manga I think he never stopped loving Miaka even though he married Houki, because I think while he regard her with affection, he does not love her the way he loves Miaka.

The one thing about Fushigi Yugi that really annoys me is how Hotohori kind of got shoved to the back ground. In the first few books he was so important, and then after book 7 I think he just rarely get to come out since he had to stay in Konan while the other travel. Likewise in the anime's opening, he actually appears with Tamahome when all the seven celestial warriors kind of demonstrates their powers (Nuriko lift up a big rock, Taisuke waves his fan, then Hotohori- drawing his sword- appearing with Tamahome after everyone else appears.)

I was on a web site about Fushigi Yugi the other day and the site creator actually like Hotohori the least (Sob, sob, how cruel is that!) I do disagree with that person's claim of Hotohori not being aware of what is happening, isn't it the opposite? Hotohori is filled with the whole burden of an emperor and all that.

I came up with the idea of doing a fan fiction when I was just randomly thinking about the story, like many Hotohori fans I feel really sad that his love is never returned. However, I really don't like the idea of him being with Miaka cause I felt that the author showed Miaka is meant to be with Tamahome since their first meeting, and I don't think Miaka can be a suitable empress- even an empress in an eastern world. (I always get the impression that Eastern empresses have less duty then western queens. And in ancient China your birth does not matter that much in you being the empress or an concubine.)

So I came up with the idea of having a Hotohori OC paring, despite Hotohori being attracted to Miaka due to her cheerful nature, I actually had an idea of an OC who is rather depressing and sad, perhaps it is also because I felt that so many Fushigi Yugi fan fictions are so light hearted, that I wanted to attempt something serious to a degree. I guess I want to have an OC who will manage to share Hotohori's burden due to understanding.

Somehow I decided to make Yuri (at the start she just got called Yuri because I wanted to give her a flower name, and I thought Yuri sounds the nicest) into Miaka's half sister, because I wanted them to have a connection even though Yuri would be older as she would be the same age as Hotohori. Since Miaka's dad left them I thought I'll let Yuri be her half sister, as they couldn't be that close either. Due to Yuri's background she became a character who was rather melancholic and longed to be loved yet very sceptical about being in love.

I like Miaka quite a bit but I have to say, she can be quite useless sometimes, and the fact that she and Tamahome often just hide what they really want to say kind of frustrate me a bit. So I wanted to Yuri to be a bit more useful, hence she ended up wielding a sword. And I wanted her to be bit less impulsive then Miaka- which is why she is kind of really sombre.

That is my initial ideas for the fan fiction that remained the same in this version, however the rest of my original ideas were very different. Miaka and Yuri were actually closer then they are in this version, so she actually fell into the book with Miaka somehow. Yui was meant to be in the story too as the priestess of Seiryuu.

What happened was that Yuri was separated from Miaka and she worked in a tavern, and met Hotohori there (escaping from the palace for some reason), and this being a fair tale romance () he kind of fell in love with her at first sight, and offered to take her with him. Being Yuri she said that she was unsure, she must have more time.

Later on Yuri was found by Miaka and she ended up in the palace. Hotohori made her his personal servant, an excuse for him to be with her. And I was actually going to write the bit in volume one when Hotohori first offered to make Miaka his empress with Yuri in it.

And when they met Tai Yi-Jun Yuri actually helped Miaka to go back by giving up her own right to go back. In this version she really just fell into the book by pure accident, and she had no special purpose in the book.

I suppose I really just wanted to write all the romantic scenes with Hotohori with my OC, to make it no longer an unrequited love. So some of the other scenes I had planed to do were: the mirror image- where the mirror image insulted Yuri, and Hotohori ended up comforting her; a farewell between Yuri and Hotohori when Yuri chose to accompany Miaka and Nuriko to find the rest; the kiss from Hotohori just before they got caught by bandits; the fever bit where Hotohori had to kill her for Shoka to revive her; and the drowning scene where she was the one drowning instead of Miaka.

This version was more cheerful as well, they actually found Chiriko straight away and they just summoned Suzaku straight away and everything ended happily with everyone living. Yuri stayed in Konan as Hotohori's empress. Although with this version I had the idea of writing about the bits in volume 13-18 as well. I had the idea that what happened was that a civil war broke out in Konan, so Hotohori had to go out, in his absence Yuri felt sick (like the really Houki). Eventually Taka and Miaka came and they discovered that one of the stones was in Yuri, and also one of the person working for the 'evil guy' –sorry I only have his Chinese name- was actually one of Hotohori's brothers.

Obviously my ideas for Hidden secrets changed- I only come up with the title after I typed the prologue. One night I couldn't sleep so I was thinking about whether I should actually start doing a bit of fan fiction writing when I suddenly came up with a new set of ideas for Yuri. I guess I kind of reversed things. She went to the book herself and met Hotohori and became his empress, and initially she actually gave birth to twins soon after her marriage- a girl and a boy.

In the second version of ideas I decided to let her have the last name of Houki, as she is going to be with Hotohori obviously I can't have Houki coming out. But Houki is such a pretty name so I really wanted to use that, that then become her title which is really good- it's certainly elaborate enough.

But what happened was that Yui arrived with Miaka, and Yuri actually saw Yui and she recognized Yui from that world, and she started to feel guilty even before she saw Miaka due to the fact that she hid about her identity. Then she saw Miaka, which caused her to leave the palace. She wanted to find the rest celestial warriors as a way of redemption but she was not the priestess of Seiryuu, she only went to Kutou in her old cloths and hoped that she would be taken to be the priestess as she was just really desperate to save Konan. She ended up calling Seiryuu not because she was destined to, but because she just did.

Initially I was going to put Yui as I thought since Yui won't be the priestess of Seiryuu, why not have her in the story? But then I couldn't be stuffed due to the fact that the story is pretty much focused on Hotohori and Yuri.

I also had two possible ends for this new version. One was that Yuri stayed in Konan, but in a coma, until Miaka and Taka returned- where they found a stone in her and therefore woke her up. Or to let everyone be reborn. Although everyone but Miaka and Yui no longer remember what had happened as they were reborn or resurrected.

I was going to write a bit about volume 13-18's event too, as well as more of their life in the present. Because of this I was actually going to make Nuriko into a girl, as it would be much more easier to write about him/her that way.

When I started to type the prologue up everything kind of changed again, the biggest change is that I decided to make Yuri into the priestess of Seiryuu, this kind of became her destiny all along. I also made their story more tragic- the whole thing about her being barren and all that. Somehow I didn't end up having Yui in this story other then to read the book. Then there was many things in this fan fiction that just came as I type, completely unplanned. eg. The whole mark on her head, and deciding that the celestial warriors will regain their memories etc etc. but otherwise most stuff remained the same as the ideas I had for the second version.

Originally I never thought I would finish Hidden Secrets this fast but because of the reviews that I got I just feel so encouraged. I spent ages in front of my computer, typing it up and reworking on it. Thanks to everyone who read the story, especially those who reviewed it.

Ok…I have blabbered on for three A4 pages. If you are still reading this thank you very much, you are truly an amazing person, and I am very grateful that you are actually willing to read this. 


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